This week’s “Spotlight On” is the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California. Incorporated almost 80 years ago, the MWD of Southern California provides water to many regions throughout Southern California, including Fullerton, Beverly Hills, Santa Monica and parts of San Diego.

The MWD’s website lists its mission as

“To provide Metropolitan’s service area with adequate and reliable supplies of high-quality water to meet present and future needs in an environmentally and economically responsible way.”

This water district serves about 18 million people, from the northern reaches of Ventura County to the southern reaches of San Diego County, and in many areas in between. Headquartered out of Los Angeles, California, the Metropolitan Water District delivers “an average of 1.7 billion gallons” every day to an area of a little over 5,000 square miles.

The areas covered by the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California.

The MWD of Southern California is dedicated to conservation efforts, sponsoring an “Innovative Conservation Program” through bewaterwise.com, the conservation arm of the MWD and “the family of Southern California water agencies.” December 31, 2009 is the target “completion date” for the entrants of this contest. Let’s hope they found some great new ways to save water!

The Metropolitan District offers numerous rebates, for homeowners and businesses alike, who use water conserving technology, such as smart sprinkler controllers like the Cyber-Rain control system. The Metropolitan District refers to such water-saving devices as “Weather-based irrigation controllers (WBICs),” (or “Smart irrigation technologies,”) which are known

“to allow for more accurate, customized irrigation by automatically adjusting the schedule and amount of water in response to changing weather conditions. Not only does this save water by reducing unnecessary watering, it allows you to tailor irrigation to meet your landscape’s specific plant needs.”

The Cyber-Rain system is both easy to use, and may help to save some of those estimated annual 13,500 gallons of water which the Metropolitan District estimates can be saved by upgrading to a smart sprinkler controller system. Homeowners can estimate the value of conservation rebates they might be able to earn, and if they are located within the service areas and successfully fill out the rebate application, may be able to earn money for being smart about their water!

The spotlight is on the Metropolitan Water District this week!