Archive for Community
The Environmental Protection Agency, aka the EPA, has some great tips for saving water on their website. Here is the link to their website where there are many more links to other websites.
http://www.epa.gov/greenhomes/ConserveWater.htm
There are lots of tips on saving water for both inside the house as well as out in the garden. It is definitely worth reading.
Just a quick reminder that we have moved into Stage I Water Conservation, starting today. Stage I is voluntary compliance and we have every confidence that Pine Cove Water District customers will rise to the challenge, as they always do! Many of our customers are now practicing water conservation as a way of life and this is great news.
If you are not sure what all the different water conservation stages entail, please check the top of the blog for the page entitled Water Conservation Stages for more information. If you have any questions, you can always call us at 951-659-2675 during normal business hours of 9 to 4, Monday through Friday. Or you can email us at Becky@pcwd.org or Vicki@pcwd.org or drop by the office in person. It is located at 249217 Marion Ridge Road, right next to the fire station. Or you can write to us at PO Box 2296, Idyllwild, CA 92549.
Remember that conserving water today ensures there will be water tomorrow. We appreciate all the efforts our customers make towards conserving water.
Harvesting the Rain!
Posted in: Community, Conservation, Uncategorized, Weather
Leave a Comment (0) →ARF, Animal Rescue Friends of Idyllwild, is our local animal rescue group and they do a fabulous job rescuing dogs and cats and finding them new homes. They are currently collecting ink jet cartridges, cell phones and small electronics such as cameras, pagers, ipods, mp3 players, ipads, tablets, ebook readers, PDAs, video cameras, calculators, GPS and radar detectors, video games & accessories, video game consoles and handhelds.
Stitch, Mascot
If you have any of these devices gathering dust around your house, please bring them into the water district office and place them in the drop off box provided by ARF. Or you can take them down to ARF yourself. Either way, why not de-clutter your home and help save some animals at the same time?
Want to know more about ARF? There is a link to their website here on the blog or you can just click this link.
Gracie, the office cat.
Here at the Pine Cove Water District, communication with our customers is a top priority. We think we do a pretty good job, however, at a recent meeting, we were informed that we need to improve communication with our customers. With that in mind, we would like to ask your input on our communication methods and what you think we could do better or more of. Below is a list of the methods we have employed and services we provide thus far.
So what do you think? Are we doing enough to let people know what is going on around the district? What are your ideas? What would you like to see us doing to keep everyone better informed? We would love to hear your thoughts and ideas. You can leave a message here on the blog, call us, write to us, stop by the office or email us at Vicki@pcwd.org or Becky@pcwd.org or Jerry@pcwd.org. Talk to us!
On Wednesday, March 12, 2014, our board of directors declared a water emergency at a public hearing. Due to the current drought and the lack of winter snow and rain, they felt the time has come to move back into a conservation stage. Stage I takes effect as of April 1st.
As most of you will remember from the last time we were in Stage I, this is voluntary compliance. Customers are asked to conserve, whenever possible, the amount of water used for domestic and business purposes. Fix leaking pipes, faucets and toilets. Refrain from washing down or hosing off sidewalks and driveways. Do not sprinkle unplanted areas for dust control. Utilize the free compost and woodchips we provide to our customers to minimize watering in the garden.
In Stage I, water prices do not increase until the 4th tier of 18,000 to 24,000 gallons. Any increases will appear in the June bills.
As past experience has shown us, the residents of Pine Cove do a wonderful job of conserving water and we have no doubt that they will once again step up to the plate and do what they can to save as much water as possible. We will be monitoring this situation very closely and will keep our customers informed on any new developments, good or bad.
Here on the hill, gardening is challenging for many reasons. A short growing season, water restrictions and poor soil, micro climates and shade are just some of the issues we contend with. As gardeners, we are forced to come up with clever ways to overcome these challenges. Each gardener is different and has different wants and needs for his or her garden, so each person must customize solutions to fit their particular gardening needs.
One challenge many gardeners everywhere face, is space. Or lack thereof. This is why container gardening and raised bed gardens are so wonderful. They allow us to garden without acres of land to till or to fit a garden into a spot that would be unsuitable for a traditional garden. Everything from flowers to fruits and veggies to herbs, can be grown in containers or raised beds.
But now you want to branch out, literally, and grow some fruit trees. A typical 1/4 acre lot can only hold so many trees and if your property is like mine, putting in a bunch of fruit trees would eliminate most of the usable space in my yard. However, if the thought of walking outside and picking the perfect apples for a pie or a big, juicy peach is something you covet, then why not think about espalier?
Beautiful! So neat and tidy.
Espalier is the art of pruning and training trees and their branches to be on one plane. It is usually done against a fence or a wall, however, by installing posts and wires, you can espalier a fruit tree just about anywhere in your yard or garden. It is an excellent way to add fruit trees to your garden or homestead without taking up valuable real estate.
Posts and wires for espalier trees.
Plus the fruit is extremely easy to pick as compared to normal fruit trees. If you have ever attempted to pick the apples from the top of a tall apple tree, you will know what I mean and will appreciate being able to pick fruit easily and without a ladder, from an espaliered tree.
Much easier to pick apples from trees that are espaliered. Give it a try. I will be doing this in my garden!
I always encourage our customers to send me pictures from around their yards showing what is happening here in Pine Cove. Sue Hrbek and Wayne Olson sent me these pictures of a blue bird making use of the blue bird house they got from us last year.
This a good time to remind everyone with a blue bird house that now is a great time to clean them out so they are ready to go for this years birds. They may be nesting earlier than normal this year do to the unseasonably warm weather. So let’s be ready for them.
If you do not have a blue bird house of your own, stop by the water district office during regular business hours and we will give you one for FREE! That’s right. We are giving away free blue bird houses. They are made from recycled wood right in the district workshop by the boys, Jerry and Jeremy. Pick yours up today.
Posted in: Animals, Around the District, Community, From the Office
Leave a Comment (0) →Some wet weather is finally coming our way. By the looks of the weather forecast, we should get some rain or snow by the end of this week. It doesn’t look like much so far, but when it comes to predicting the weather, one never really knows for sure. Let’s all hope we get more moisture than is predicted as we need it desperately. This winter has been practically non-existent so far and while these mild and sunny days are certainly enjoyable, they are doing nothing for our water situation.
Conserving water whenever possible is also an important part of our water situation. Luckily, Pine Covers are very aware, concerned and educated about our water supply and as a result, they are very good about conserving water as much as possible. If you aren’t sure how you can reduce your water usage, we have many water conservation tips here on the blog and on our website at pcwd.org that are useful for conserving water both inside the house as well as outside.
And don’t forget to turn your water off at your customer valve anytime you leave you mountain home. This is the best way to prevent damage from a leak when you are not at your mountain home. We also have water conservation kits here at the office. Stop in and pick one up for your home!
Just a quick reminder about our Leak Reward Program. Anyone who spots a leak and reports it to the water district, will earn a $25 gift certificate to their restaurant of choice here on the hill.
It has to be a valid leak, not a spring or something we already know about. And it can’t be something like your toilet is leaking. This has been a very successful program and we hope you will keep your eyes and ears peeled when you are out and about in Pine Cove.
A storm finally moved in at the end of last week and according to the weather station up at the Rocky Point tank site, we received .43 inches of rain. That is almost half an inch! While we need much more rain and snow than this to pull us out of this drought, it is better than nothing and we will take it.
We are hoping that February and March turn out to be much wetter than January was. However, since we don’t have a crystal ball here at the water district, we cannot predict what will happen weather wise. What we can be sure of however, is the fact that the residents of Pine Cove have been and will continue to conserve as much water as possible. For this we are very grateful. When times get tough, Pine Covers really step up to the plate and do what needs to be done to get through the tough times. We know this, because we have seen you in action.
Water conservation is an integral part of living on the hill. We are solely dependent on our ground wells here in Pine Cove and have no back up sources of water. We take great care to pump water from different wells throughout our district so as not to deplete any one particular area too much. Keeping water loss and use to a minimum, will enable us to continue to provide clean, potable water to everyone here in Pine Cove. So remember, conserve water regardless of whether or not we are in a drought. Conserving water when we are not in a drought is like putting money in the bank for a rainy day. Or in the case of a drought, for a sunny day. Keep up the good work Pine Covers!
