“Don’t tell people what to do, tell them what you’ve done,” said Actor/Activist Ed Begley, Jr., the featured speaker at the 2007 WaterSmart Symposium hosted by Toro Irrigation on July 19. It was in this spirit that the event’s speakers shared water-saving success stories with more than 200 attendees at Toro’s state-of-the-art irrigation development and testing facility in Riverside, Calif.
“At Toro, we strive to lead by example, encouraging and helping the irrigation industry to work together to achieve more efficient water management practices,” said Phil Burkart, vice president and general manager of Toro’s Irrigation Business. “This year’s symposium gave leaders from across industries a chance to share what they’ve done to reduce water waste in their communities—and to inspire others to do the same.”
Attendees were impressed with the range and diversity of the event’s speakers, which included representatives from city and state government, the Environmental Protection Agency, irrigation consultants, trade associations, homebuilders, golf course superintendents, landscape contractors, university professors and more.
Melody Emadiazar, Water Education Coordinator from the City of Frisco, came all the way from Texas to attend the WaterSmart Symposium.
“It was great to interact with people who have the same mindset and understanding,” she said. “In the city of Frisco, we started our own ET controller program and all new homes in our city are required to install a controller that is equipped with ET technology. So it was really interesting to learn more about Toro’s solutions and about what’s being done in that region to save water. The interaction with the speakers and other attendees also gives you an opportunity to learn about other solutions that you hadn’t considered before.”
“It was one of the best symposiums I’ve ever been to,” said Armand Le Sage, golf course superintendent at Lake Arrowhead Country Club in Lake Arrowhead, Calif. “It offered an outstanding program that brought in great speakers from all over the country to drive home that this is a global issue that affects all of us. Ed Begley Jr.’s presentation was out of this world. I also was fascinated by Steven Cox, the grower from Kansas who talked about how much water he saved by using drip irrigation.”
David McClain, landscape architect with EDIC, agreed.
“It was a worthwhile event,” he said. “I particularly liked Mark Stuart’s local perspective which addressed the situation that we face and what we can do as an industry to resolve these issues. In my own business, there will be greater effort to educate my clients so that together we can try to water as efficiently as possible.”
This year’s event focused on timely water management issues including legislative and regulatory developments, practical water-saving solutions, new irrigation product trends and more. A strong emphasis was placed on sharing with attendees the real-life strategies and tactics that have been successfully used by leaders throughout the country.
“The 2007 WaterSmart Symposium proved to be an excellent opportunity for everyone to learn from one another,” Burkart said. “Many of the attendees I spoke with said they plan to go forward and implement or revise their own water management strategies based on what they learned. I think the event helped inspire all of us to take action.”
The symposium coincides with Smart Irrigation Month, which was recognized June 8, 2006 in the Congressional Record and by the United States Department of Agriculture. The Irrigation Association identified July, a peak month for irrigation usage, as Smart Irrigation Month to raise awareness about advances in irrigation efficiency.
For more information about Toro’s water management efforts and for a complete list of speakers and their presentations, please visit www.torowatersmart.com.
