How thirsty is your lawn?

Image via Wikipedia

This summer many of us will struggle to pick between a not-so-green-lawn vs a not-so-affordable-water-bill.

Before making this choice, how about answering this question: "How thirsty is your lawn?"... How do you know how much to water it if you don't know how much water it needs in the first place?

A good majority of us don't relate to this problem since they are not the one who waters the lawn. It simply is someone else's problem, or is it? Shouldn't we be asking the person in charge to answer the question?

OK. There is a way to do it right. It starts with knowing what causes your lawn to need water. Ever heard of ET? ET is a measure of evaporation (from soil and plant surfaces) and transpiration (from plant tissues). So it can be used to calculate how much water your lawn needs.

Want to know more: What is CIMIS and What is ET?

Later in the week, I'll write more about using ET to find out how thirsty your lawn is!

Cut Water Use or Pay Penalty Charge

Image via Wikipedia

Contra Costa Water District which serves water to approximately 550,000 people in central and eastern Contra Costa County in Northern California, is starting a Drought Management Program to encourage water conservation.

Contra Costa Water District (CCWD) Blog announced the CCWD's 15% Drought Management Program on April 1st. The program will be in effect as of May 1st, 2009.

KCBS Radio reported that "Residents who use less than a thousand gallons a day, which is about 90 percent of district customers, will only face a higher rate if their water usage increases. But those who already use more than a thousand gallons a day will face the new drought rate of 300 percent if they don't cutback."

You can click here for information and tools that can help cut water use.

Sources:
1. KCBS Radio report on New Water Regulations in Contra Costa
2. San Francisco Chronicle article on Contra Costa Water Officials Move to Cut Water Use
3. NBC article on Another County Hit With Water Restrictions
4. Mercury News article on Contra Costa Water District customers must conserve or pay more

Image via Wikipedia

California's on going drought is putting pressure on cities.

Los Angeles announced plans to start a water rationing program in May. Others will soon follow.

Without appropriate tools many businesses and residents may find themselves in a situation where they need to chose between a significantly higher water bill versus dried up landscaping.

Powered by AuditorSoft, the Green Leaf Online Water Management Tools provide a water rationing feature that let's irrigation managers cut water where it's less needed.

To see how you can conserve water and keep your landscape irrigation budget under control, you can view water management tools quick tour.

Related articles

• LA water rationing in the pipeline (businessgreen.com)

Landscaping Quality Control

Image via Wikipedia

Declining curb appeal and expensive plant replacements can be prevented by early detection of landscape defects. But consistency in quality inspections is difficult to achieve without a formal quality control process. Historical data tied to well defined inspection areas and preset priorities are required for comparable results.

AuditorSoft offers a highly visual, comprehensive quality control program.

Powered by AuditorSoft, the Green Leaf Online Landscape Quality Control Tools provide a workflow solution to spot and follow-up on problems. Improvements in landscape quality are documented through easy to read tables and charts.

World Water Day - 22nd March 2009

March 22nd is International World Water Day.

United Nations General Assembly designated 22 March 1993 as the first World Water Day as an international day to celebrate freshwater. Since then each year a specific aspect of freshwater is selected as the theme. This years theme is around "Shared Water - Shared Opportunities".

UNWater reports: "With every country seeking to satisfy its water needs from limited water resources, some foresee a future filled with conflict. But history shows that cooperation, not conflict, is the most common response to transboundary water management issues.



You can read more about World Water Day here: UNWater.

In celebration of World Water Day, we will give away free 12 month subscriptions to our Landscape Water Management software to the first 3 readers who email us *. Please write to info@auditorsoft.com and use the subject line "World Water Day 2009 Promotion".



* Terms and restrictions apply. While quantities last. Not redeemable for cash.

Orange County residents protest proposed 40% water rate increase

California is in the midst of an increasingly severe water shortage. Water rationing programs, tiered water rates, and other penalty pricing models are becoming more common.

Golden State Water Company, has filed a petition with the California Public Utilities Commission to raise from rates from $47 to $64 by 2010 and $66 by 2012. The proposed increase is approximately 40 percent over three years.

OCRegister reported: "About 75 residents showed up at Placentia City Council Chambers at the first of two public hearings held Wednesday to allow Orange County residents to voice opinions regarding a proposed rate increase by Golden State Water Company."

There is a severe need for solutions that residents can use to reduce water usage. Click here, if you are interested in finding out how you can: conserve water.

Sources:

1. OCRegister.com article.

Water Rationing: How to manage landscape water during one

How to Manage Landscape Water During Water Rationing

Many HOA board members, homeowners, property managers are asking themselves the same question: "How do I manage my landscape irrigation during water rationing?". What makes them nervous are the steep tiered rates and fines that can put their budget in the tank if they fail to manage the amount of landscape water they use.

What's obvious is the need for water management tools that can show the landscape water managers the way to cutting down their irrigation usage without unnecessarily under watering and killing their landscape assets.

There are logical steps to cutting water use without sacrificing the landscape. The first step is to locate all valve zones and what plants, irrigation heads and other variables are in these zones. These 'valve characteristics' coupled with a smart base schedule will make any capital investment to your system perform optimally. Many customers have invested in new technology only to find they are using more, not less water.

GreenLeaf offers water management solutions which don't require significant capital investment or replacement of irrigation equipment to achieve big savings. Click here to learn more about the GreenLeaf water management program.