TexasET Network Landscape Watering Recommendations - "Cougar Central Austin"

We received a little bit of rain last week and it is warming up today to 82 degrees, looking like Winter is behind us. Based on the rain we received last week, you are probably OK to NOT water this week, so turn your controller OFF. If you still want to water, only water 1/4" this week.  A good programming strategy is to set your controller default runtimes @100% seasonal adjust to to apply 1" of water per week, then you can reduce you seasonal adjust to 20-30% ( .2-.3") for this week. This is using your controller like a thermostat or "accelerator" pedal to regulate watering.  There are some sensors ( Solar Sync, Weatherstations, Soil Moisture sensors, etc. ) that will make these adjustments automatically for you.

Watering recommendation for "Cougar Central Austin" for the past 7 days:0.20 inches* Date ETo Max Temperature Min Temperature Min Humidity Total Rainfall 03-03-2014 0.09 41 22 45 0.03 03-04-2014 0.06 46 29 61 0.01 03-05-2014 0.05 52 38 72 0 03-06-2014 0.13 62 44 38 0 03-07-2014 0.11 64 39 47 0 03-08-2014 0.04 57 44 80 0.64 03-09-2014 0.07 55 39 67 0.01 NOTE: These reported values are hourly averages, not absolute highs and lows. *Recommendations based on the following parameters (assuming no rainfall): Adjust this watering recommendation for any rainfall that you have received during this time period. TexasET Weather Station : Austin (Morris Williams) Plant Coefficient : Warm Season Adjustment factor : Normal

This information is provided by the "Irrigation Technology Program" under the direction of Dr. Guy Fipps. If you would like to discontinue service please click on the link above to log into your TexasET profile. To discontinue service for only this station select "modify" from your site list and delete the site. To discontinue all TexasET emails select "Modify your user profile" and uncheck "Receive watering recommendations by email".

This email was sent to cougar.irrigation@gmail.com by Texas A&M AgriLIFE Extension

Texas A&M AgriLIFE Extension 600 John Kimbrough BLVD, Suite 509 7101 TAMU College Station, TX 77843-7101

TexasET Network Landscape Watering Recommendations - "Cougar Central Austin"

If you have not turned on your irrigation system for this season, now it the time to run a  system check and make sure everything is operating properly.  Temperatures were almost 20 degrees Fahrenheit above normal this past week. We are looking at about 40-50% of summer evaporation and transpiration rate.  A lot of shrubs are starting to come out of dormancy and turf grasses along concrete areas are starting to green up due to the warmer soil temperatures along the concrete. Hopefully we will get some rain this week to supplement the already dry conditions. I checked turf soil moisture on my property and the top 2 inches of the soil is pretty dry.  Had to go down to 3" before my soil moisture probe read WET.

Watering recommendation for "Cougar Central Austin" for the past 7 days:0.41 inches* Date ETo Max Temperature Min Temperature Min Humidity Total Rainfall 02-17-2014 0.18 76 62 20 0 02-18-2014 0.14 78 56 28 0 02-19-2014 0.12 78 61 52 0 02-20-2014 0.23 79 56 14 0 02-21-2014 0.16 67 43 20 0 02-22-2014 0.13 72 45 41 0 02-23-2014 0.17 82 61 32 0 NOTE: These reported values are hourly averages, not absolute highs and lows. *Recommendations based on the following parameters (assuming no rainfall): Adjust this watering recommendation for any rainfall that you have received during this time period. TexasET Weather Station : Austin (Morris Williams) Plant Coefficient : Warm Season Adjustment factor : Normal

TexasET Network Landscape Watering Recommendations - "Cougar Central Austin"

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Watering recommendation for "Cougar Central Austin" for the past 7 days:0.27 inches* Date ETo Max Temperature Min Temperature Min Humidity Total Rainfall 02-10-2014 0.05 54 33 79 0 02-11-2014 0.03 34 32 79 0.03 02-12-2014 0.1 53 32 42 0 02-13-2014 0.12 65 30 31 0 02-14-2014 0.22 80 46 17 0 02-15-2014 0.15 72 46 24 0 02-16-2014 0.07 72 56 65 0 NOTE: These reported values are hourly averages, not absolute highs and lows. *Recommendations based on the following parameters (assuming no rainfall): Adjust this watering recommendation for any rainfall that you have received during this time period. TexasET Weather Station : Austin (Morris Williams) Plant Coefficient : Warm Season Adjustment factor : Normal

TexasET Network Landscape Watering Recommendations - "Cougar Central Austin"

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Watering recommendation for "Cougar Central Austin" for the past 7 days:0.17 inches* Date ETo Max Temperature Min Temperature Min Humidity Total Rainfall 02-03-2014 0.04 43 33 76 0.01 02-04-2014 0.08 61 40 48 0.09 02-05-2014 0.08 46 29 47 0.01 02-06-2014 0.05 29 24 57 0 02-07-2014 0.03 34 27 68 0 02-08-2014 0.08 60 34 52 0 02-09-2014 0.11 70 41 51 0 NOTE: These reported values are hourly averages, not absolute highs and lows. *Recommendations based on the following parameters (assuming no rainfall): Adjust this watering recommendation for any rainfall that you have received during this time period. TexasET Weather Station : Austin (Morris Williams) Plant Coefficient : Warm Season Adjustment factor : Normal

This information is provided by the "Irrigation Technology Program" under the direction of Dr. Guy Fipps. If you would like to discontinue service please click on the link above to log into your TexasET profile. To discontinue service for only this station select "modify" from your site list and delete the site. To discontinue all TexasET emails select "Modify your user profile" and uncheck "Receive watering recommendations by email".

This email was sent to cougar.irrigation@gmail.com by Texas A&M AgriLIFE Extension

Texas A&M AgriLIFE Extension 600 John Kimbrough BLVD, Suite 509 7101 TAMU College Station, TX 77843-7101

Texas A&M -Weekly Watering recommendation - Central Austin 2/3/14

With all the crazy weather we have been having, freezing one day and 76 degrees the next, it's hard to know how much we should be watering our warm season grass this time of year. Even though the grass is dormant and is not growing lush green leaves above ground, the roots still need to be watered and will grow this time of year. Same goes for trees, a lot of their energy is put towards establishing roots this time of year. Below is a snap shot of a email I received today from the Texas A&M webtool. This is a FREE tool that is available to anyone. Answer a few questions and it will email you how much water you should apply to your lawn. Here is the link to the website. http://texaset.tamu.edu/ Contact us if you have any questions on how much run time this translates to for your system service@cougarirrigation.com , 512-769-2351 I will publish this recommendation to the blog weekly. This is a conservative watering amount. Login to your TexasET profile

Watering recommendation for "Cougar Central Austin" for the past 7 days:0.24 inches* Date ETo Max Temperature Min Temperature Min Humidity Total Rainfall 01-27-2014 0.13 52 34 23 0 01-28-2014 0.08 37 26 29 0 01-29-2014 0.08 45 27 22 0 01-30-2014 0.09 63 29 52 0 01-31-2014 0.16 76 54 45 0 02-01-2014 0.08 73 54 64 0 02-02-2014 0.06 52 34 68 0.01 NOTE: These reported values are hourly averages, not absolute highs and lows. *Recommendations based on the following parameters (assuming no rainfall): Adjust this watering recommendation for any rainfall that you have received during this time period. TexasET Weather Station : Austin (Morris Williams) Plant Coefficient : Warm Season Adjustment factor : Normal

Waste Water Averaging Periods Begin Nov 14th,2013 and running through March 14th, 2014 for Austin Water Users

Hi Folks ,

It's time to monitor your water use and limit your outdoor watering. Austin Wastewater is billed at a volume unit charge of $8.62 per 1,000 gallons ( for usage over 2,000 gallons. )

This year Austin Water is again using a " three continuous month average" period. No more throwing out the highest month.

The total period runs from November 14 to March 14, but your actual measure dates will fall somewhere in between these 2 dates.

Check here for to find your averaging period start and end dates.

http://austintexas.gov/department/wastewater-averaging

I would recommend reducing your irrigation clock to a water budget of 10% during you waste water period. You can turn it OFF if you are feeling that brave about mother nature providing rainfall over those 3 months, but it is still a good idea to at least run a 2 minute per zone test once a month to keep all the seals lubricated and clean and remove stagnant water from the piping.

Enjoy the great weather and the outdoors this weekend and this time of year.

Sincerely,

Cougar Matt Stamm, CLIA
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Note: For all other water purveyors, please check your water bill or contact them directly to find out your exact measurement dates., below are few of the other purveyors that our customers use.

Brushy Creek Mud ( http://www.bcmud.org/content/3604/3783/4143.aspx ) 
The District uses a sewer average based on four (4) months water consumption from November through February of the previous year to calculate your monthly bill.

WCID #17 ( http://www.wcid17.org/rates-fees/ ) 
Residential wastewater rates are based on the average of the water usage for Dec, Jan & Feb.

Round Rock  http://www.roundrocktexas.gov/home/index.asp?page=140
The maximum monthly charge for waste water service is based upon actual water consumption, or on the average monthly water consumption during the previous December, January, and February billing periods, whichever is lower. (Depending on your route, consumption used to calculate your wastewater average may come from usage in November, December, January, and February. Watch your bills to determine the approximate date on which your meter is read each month. Your wastewater average calculation will start on the day your meter is read in November and will end on the day your meter is read in February.) 

Effective Rain - Rain that soaked into the soil October 2013

Effective Rain - Austin received over 13" of  rain in Oct. 2013. This is more than all the rain we received in the first 9 months of 2011, but how much of this 13" is effective rain?  Rain that soaked into the soil and is available for grass, shrub, and tree use?

The problem is that rain falls so fast here in Central Texas, sometimes up to 5" per hour. The soil can only absorb 1/4" per hour, so the remaining 4.75 inches will "sheet" and runoff as evidenced by all the flash flooding we are seeing this time of year.

In october, we received a lot of rain, but we achieved "soil saturation" mid way through the month. Once we reached saturation, it was like trying to put 10 gallons of gas into your car when the gas tank is full.
Below is a chart showing the soil saturation levels in Austin Texas for the mid weeks of October 2013.

As you can see , on Oct. 12th, we reached soil saturation levels, after that point all the rain we received was runoff and not available for plant use.  The total "effective rainfall" for October , I calculated at around  1-2 " for clay soils which is typical in central Austin.  This is a far cry from the 13 inches we received.  The other reason only so little rainfall was effective, is because of the low evaporation rate this time of year. Had these deluges occurred mid summer, we could have absorbed about 7.3" of rain as the soil would have dried out in between these rain events.

So the real question becomes,  how can a homeowner program a simple time based controller properly and know how much and when to water? It is pretty much impossible, only a smart controller or controller with a soil moisture sensor would be able to apply the correct amount to water at the right time and the right amount. For most time based controllers, it would be best to just shut the controller off and conserve water during these heavy rain periods.


Matthew L . Stamm
Certified Landscape Irrigation Auditor
President, Cougar Irrigation, LLC

(Above calulations were made using  http://www.weatherreach.com/mad/  , clay soils, warm season grass, 5" root depth)