Landscapes and recreational facilities are the green space that provide ecosystem services and aesthetics that enhance our quality of life in urban settings. With the growing variability of weather, maintaining these landscapes relies on well-designed irrigation systems to conserve water and the energy to deliver it.
Join The Ecological Landscape Alliance on Tuesday, July 11 at 10 am for a tour to two urban sites in downtown Boston that demonstrate a variety of irrigation types and practices to help save water.
First stop on the tour is the Rose Kennedy Greenway, to learn about the Conservancy’s approach to sustainable and frugal water management practices. The Conservancy takes advantage of Boston’s natural rainfall and supplements it with automated irrigation as needed. Appropriate irrigation system elements in conjunction with weather and plant monitoring inform the Conservancy adjustments to irrigation run times and frequency. The irrigation controllers have rain sensors which stop scheduled irrigation after a preset amount of rainfall has occurred. The Conservancy also employs hand watering for containers and newly planted materials. To further reduce the Greenway’s water consumption, the Conservancy regularly conducts audits of the irrigation system functionality and water usage to allow for quick detection and repair of leaks and malfunctions.
The second stop on the tour is the Seaport District parks, to explore ways to irrigate urban street scapes and small pocket parks. Brian Vinchesi will be discussing the sustainability features of drip irrigation and tree irrigation for a diverse group of landscapes. He will also explain irrigation infrastructure, the smart controllers necessary to manage the system.
The tour will review the irrigation technologies, design, and operational strategies being used to help save water while managing healthy landscapes. Brian will also explain how older systems might be improved to be more sustainable.
Brian Vinchesi, who holds a degree in agricultural (irrigation) engineering, is President of Irrigation Consulting, a national irrigation design and consulting firm. Irrigation Consulting performs irrigation consulting services throughout the United States and overseas. Vinchesi has 34 years of irrigation design experience in the turf, landscape and golf sectors. He is responsible for field evaluation, construction administration and project management. He is a past president of the Irrigation Association and the American Society of Irrigation Consultants. He serves on many Irrigation Association committees including being chair or the Smart Water Applications Technology initiative as well as the IA Standards and Codes Committee. He is a LEED-AP, the 2015 Irrigation Association Industry Achievement Award Winner and the 2009 EPA WaterSense Irrigation Partner of the Year.
$23 for ELA members, $33 for nonmembers. Register and see more at: http://www.ecolandscaping.org/event/eco-tour-irrigation-tools-techniques-greenway-seaport-parks/#sthash.Z1AWE4QF.dpuf
