Irrigation design for Orange County landscapes

Drip irrigation on dedicated zones for each hydrozone (planting type and water need), inline emitters for groundcover beds, point-source emitters for shrubs and trees, no overhead spray on planting (turf only, where lawn remains), a weather-based ET controller, a master valve, a flow sensor, and a pressure-regulating filter at the point of connection.

A hydrozone is a group of plants with similar water needs irrigated together. MWELO requires landscapes to be designed in hydrozones so each zone can be watered only as much as its plants actually need — instead of one controller running every zone the same.

Yes, when designed and installed properly — pressure-regulated, filtered, and zoned correctly. The failure modes are clogged emitters and rodent damage, both of which a contractor can address at the annual checkup.

Yes — they're required by MWELO for new and renovated landscapes over the threshold. A weather-based controller adjusts run time daily based on local ET data, so the system waters less in May and more in August automatically.

Point of connection, mainline routing, valve locations with zone numbers, lateral routing by zone, emitter or head specifications by zone, controller location, MWELO hydrozone schedule, applied-water calculations, and the water-district submittal package. The contractor installs from the sheet without redesigning in the trench.