Warren Gorowitz, vice president of sustainability at Ewing Irrigation & Landscape Supply, began his term as president of the Irrigation Association (IA) last week at the 2017 Irrigation Show & Conference in Orlando.
Gorowitz took the stage at the 2017 Irrigation Show general session to talk more about his goals for the position.
As a sustainability expert, Gorowitz brings an emphasis on conservation and efficiency to his one-year term as president.
“It’s really the perfect storm,” he said. “There’s a heightened focus on water use; water costs are going up and value of water is going up as well.”
Irrigation isn’t a “backyard hobby” anymore, he said, so he hopes to spend the coming year as president emphasizing irrigation as a profession, not just an industry.
“It’s a profession we do every day and a career many of us have made our lives out of,” he said.
It’s a job that will take coordination with other associations and groups, like the National Association of Landscape Professionals, Sports Turf Managers Association and American Society of Irrigation Consultants.
“We need to create a story around what we do every day. If we don’t,” he said, “someone else is going to tell that story for us.”
Gorowitz started in the green industry at 14 years old, working at a golf course in Los Angeles that was innovating the use of weather stations and remote monitoring more than three decades ago.
A self-described computer nerd, Gorowitz predicts that his time as president of the IA will see some of the fastest growth in technological advancements.
“Technology is changing irrigation,” he said. “I see every irrigation system having a flow meter in the future, and what about drones? They’re not just good for delivering Amazon packages. I see them as tools to provide information on moisture and more.”
