In terms of rainfall, Northern California just experienced the driest spring ever recorded. It was therefore no surprise that earlier this week, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger declared a state-wide drought. The drought cannot be blamed entirely on sparse rainfall though. Our fondness for lush green lawns is helping to drain our reservoirs faster than nature can fill them up.
Chris Spain, the CEO of Hydropoint Data Systems in Petaluma says part of the problem is that most of the 45 million sprinklers systems currently in operation are run by simple timers. This means that all too often the sprinklers are running in the middle of a rain storm, or they are running the same amount of time on cloudy days as they do on hot sunny days. Spain’s analysis of the situation is this: “We have a profound, ubiquitous epidemic of water waste due to dumb technology“.
Hydropoint’s answer to this issue is a product called WeatherTrak, a sprinkler controlling system that is guided by real-time weather data from 14,000 weather stations, as well as National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration satellites. The data 
allows the WeatherTrak to make location-specific watering decisions. The WeatherTrak controller also takes other factors into account, such as type of plant, type of soil, slope angle, sun exposure, temperature, and humidity. WeatherTrak customer eBay reports a reduction in water use of about 25 to 30 percent.
At this point, Hydropoint’s focus is on commercial customers. Besides eBay, other WeatherTrak users include Lockheed Martin, Wal-Mart and Google. Most of the schools in Petaluma use WeatherTrak, and it saves the district an estimated $50,000 a year. Hydropoint is making inroads into the residential market too. Shea Homes of California includes a residential version of the WeatherTrak in every home it
builds. And the Santa Clara Valley Water District offers rebates to homeowners who install weather-based irrigation systems (such as WeatherTrak) in their homes – details are available at www.valleywater.org.
Ultimately, how well California weathers this current drought is up to Californians themselves, and the degree to which they are willing to spend a little now in order to reap huge long term gains later -both financial and environmentally. As Angela McCoy, Hydropoint’s marketing manager says, ” …our biggest challenge is the Status Quo.” Seems to be a recurring theme…
Quick reminder: The GreenFair Silicon Valley is this weekend. Don’t miss out. Click the link for details.
Kyle Design has many items and gifts that will appeal to the responsible, environmentally conscious, green side of your psyche. Tree designs, water designs, and flower designs are just a few examples. Check it out at kyledesigns.com.
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