Photo Credit: Courtesy of The Irvine Ranch Outdoor Education Center
Water has always been important in Southern California, but it has never been as valuable a resource as during this summer’s scorching weather and brutal drought conditions. For the past three years, the California Department of Water Resources has reported that the state received only a fraction of its average annual rainfall, which means there is less water in the reservoirs and aqueducts that supply our parks and communities. Beyond just using water more efficiently, many large properties and water companies are looking to diversify where they get their water by finding new sources of this so-called “liquid gold.”
The Irvine Ranch Outdoor Education Center in Orange County found a creative solution to the water problem by drilling a 200-foot-deep well to pump and store groundwater for future use on the property. Not only is the well quenching the thirst for irrigation water, it also is used as a staging area for teaching lessons about sustainable water and renewable sources of energy.
A Working Well
Owned and operated by the Orange County Council, Boy Scouts of America, the center is on 210 acres and serves local scout and YMCA groups, school outdoor education programs and other community youth organizations.