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Putting WaterSense® to Work
California Golf Resort Hits Hole in One
With Outdoor Water Efficiency Efforts
Sector: Hotels; Focus: Outdoor Water Use
Project Summary
With preserved land accounting for more than 99 percent of The
Resort at Pelican Hill's total irrigable acres and an ocean view
attracting visitors, water conservation goes hand in hand with the
resort's land stewardship efforts and its stake in protecting the area's
most valuable asset—the Pacific Ocean.
The Newport Beach resort's 100-acre landscape is maintained by
ValleyCrest Landscape Companies, Inc., which oversaw five
landscaping companies during the original landscape and irrigation
system installation at Pelican Hill. In 2010, ValleyCrest refined the
resort's irrigation components and implemented other measures to
increase its outdoor water efficiency. With its help, the resort has
successfully reduced its water use and operating costs with
WaterSense labeled weather-based irrigation controllers, drip
irrigation, high-efficiency rotating nozzles, drought-tolerant plant
selections, turf reduction, recycled municipal water, rainwater
collection for golf course irrigation, and regular irrigation system
maintenance.
Native Plants Stay True to Local Roots
In 2009, ValleyCrest incorporated drought-tolerant plants throughout
the property and strategically limited turf to 6 to 8 percent of the site—
for use in essential areas where events such as weddings take place.
Ninety percent of the landscape located away from guest rooms is
irrigated with recycled water purchased through WaterSense partner
Irvine Ranch Water District's (IRWD) Water Recycling Program.
To increase these water savings in 2010, ValleyCrest separated tree
species from turf into micro-zones based on their watering
requirements and replaced flowers with water-smart succulents in
hundreds of planters throughout the resort. The Professional!
Landcare Network (PLANET) honored ValleyCrest with a 2010
PLANET Merit Award for achieving landscape water efficiency while
maintaining aesthetics at Pelican Hill.
Smart Controllers and Nozzles Water Smarter
The resort's WaterSense labeled controllers use the Internet to
access local weather data and landscape conditions to program water
schedules based on plants' needs. They also generate regular
Case Study
Highlights
Hotel: The Resort at Pelican Hill
Location: Newport Beach,
California
Landscape size: 100
landscaped acres; 50,000 acres
of preserved land
Water savings: More than 48
million gallons, or 18 percent,
from 2009 to 2010
Cost savings: $75,000 from
2009 to 2010
Displays of succulent plants replaced
450 flower pots throughout Pelican
Hill.
PHONE (866) WTR-SENS (987-7367) WEBSITE www.epa.gov/watersenseEMAlLwatersense@epa.gov
A rn/V EPA-832-F-14-002-A
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reports, as well as send automatic alerts to operations and maintenance personnel based on the system's flow
sensors. These controllers' remote capabilities allow staff to adjust the system from their computers, reducing
labor and fuel costs. Pelican Hill's controllers, for example, self-adjust daily based on temperature, wind, humidity,
and solar radiation.
In 2010, VaiieyCrest installed drip irrigation in some of the landscape's plant beds and high-efficiency rotating
nozzles in other areas, after which it reprogrammed Pelican Hill's controllers to factor in resort-specific plants
(e.g., tree micro-zones), new irrigation emission devices, slopes, shade, and sun exposure. To sustain—and
deepen—these savings, VaiieyCrest performs monthly irrigation inspections and weekly water meter readings.
Based on the savings Pelican Hill saw between 2009 and 2010—much of which can be attributed to the use of
WaterSense labeled controllers—VaiieyCrest estimates the smart controllers will pay for themselves in
approximately three years.
Staying Within a Water Budget
In additional to controller-generated data, Pelican Hill receives monthly water budget reports as an IRWD
customer. Customers exceeding a preset number of gallons per month are charged an increased water rate to
accommodate the extra water IRWD must purchase to meet demand. Not only has Pelican Hill never exceeded
its IRWD water budget, but the resort's total water use has remained 20 percent beneath budget, on average.
Going Green on the Green
A water management system was installed on the resort's two
golf courses with the help of Orange County Coastkeeper, a local
nonprofit working to protect oceans and other bodies of water.'
Five underground rainwater cisterns collectively holding 5 million
gallons of water capture runoff that is then used to irrigate
Pelican Hill's golf courses Each cistern is emptied within 10 days
following a storm in order to continue capturing rain runoff
throughout rainy seasons. A full-time water quality manager
monitors and maintains the system to ensure that it saves more
than 50 million gallons of water per year; reduces the amount of
debris and contaminants in the water; and successfully captures
and recycles runoff 2
On hole 12 of the Ocean South course, a water diversion system
captures runoff from a portion of the golf course, as well as from
Pacific Coast Highway and two nearby Newport Coast neighborhoods. The water is sent to the City of Newport
Beach's water reclamation station, rather than working its way to the ocean.0
Acknowledgements
The U.S, Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) WaterSense program acknowledges VaiieyCrest Landscape
Companies Director for Water Management Solutions Richard Restuccia for providing information for this case
study.
Learn More
To learn more about water efficiency in commercial and institutional buildings, visit the WaterSense website at
www.epa.gov/watersense/commercial to access WaterSense at Work best management practices, tools, case
studies, and more.
Located just uphill of the resort's grand-
entrance bridge, the water quality system's
largest cistern holds 540,000 gallons of water.
1	"Pelican Hil! Honored as Green Golf Resort." The Orange County Register, www.ocregister.com/articles/golf-340850-water-pelican.html.
2	Starr, Kate. "Sustainability at Pelican Hill." www.pelicanhiil.com/liles/Sustainability.pdf.
3	"Pelican Hill Honored as Green Golf Resort." op tit.

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