California’s Coachella Valley, home to many luxurious golf courses, resorts, and gated communities, has long had little of its own water, but, strangely, has some of the highest per capita uses of water in the state. At the Walter Annenberg Estate, a 200-acre property in the Coachella Valley, water was the lifeblood that had created an attractive green oasis in an otherwise dry landscape.

Photo: Walter Annenberg Estate Golf Course / Sunnylands

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The Sunnylands Center & Gardens in Rancho Mirage, California, is a 15-acre extension of the Annenberg estate commissioned in 2006 that has dramatically curtailed water use. To respond to the emerging water crisis, Sunnylands decided to implement the most advanced water conservation strategy available.

Photo: Sunnylands Center & Garden Plan / The Office of James Burnett

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Landscape architects with The Office of James Burnett carefully selected more than 53,000 arid landscape-plants and trees from 70 different species for the new sustainable landscape. These plants not only provide year-round visual interest but they are also adapted to low-water conditions.

Photo: Sunnylands Center & Garden / Dillon Diers Photography | OJB

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Throughout the estate, 60 acres of turf have been replaced with mulch and meadow grasses that can survive in the dry climate without additional irrigation.

Photo: Sunnylands Center & Garden / Dillon Diers Photography | OJB

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The LEED Gold-certified public garden now uses approximately 20 percent of its water allocation from the Coachella Valley Water District through 100 percent on-site stormwater retention.

Photo: Sunnylands Center & Garden / Coachella Valley Water District

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An on-site weather monitoring system, which includes soil moisture monitoring, helps predict future water needs, while high-efficiency capillary irrigation zones are independently controlled to reduce water use.

Photo: Sunnylands Center & Garden / Dillon Diers Photography | OJB

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The landscape uses underground retention basins to capture and store stormwater runoff. When not used for irrigation, this water helps recharge the valley's depleted aquifer.

Photo: Sunnylands Center & Garden / Coachella Valley Water District

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Sunnylands also strives for energy-efficiency, capitalizing on its desert environment where there are more than 300 clear and sunny days a years with 864-collector solar farm.

Photo: Sunnylands Center & Garden / Dillon Diers Photography | OJB

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A geothermic system extends nearly 400 feet below the center's Great Lawn. Nearly 100 wells use a close loop temperature transfer system to heat and cool the center.

Photo: Sunnylands Center & Garden / The Office of James Burnett

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