The simple monthly adjustment is possible because of some assumptions in the usually complicated calculations used for plant water use. Therefore, making it work may take some fine-tuning. With some additional adjustments, you can possibly save even more water or account for extreme heat events. This is done by changing your sprinkler zone run times and your seasonal budget settings.
- If you want to save more water and there are zones that appear to be getting enough water, try reducing the zone time by 10%.
- If plants in a zone are showing signs of water stress, trying increasing the run time by 10%.
- Abnormally hot or cool summers also can be handled using the budget setting. If you experience several weeks of hotter- or cooler-than-normal temperatures, you may want to increase or decrease the budget setting by 10%; for example, if June has abnormally hot temperatures lasting a couple weeks, increase from 80% to 90%. If more normal temperatures return, revert the budget to its normal setting for the month.
- While mostly dry during the lawn irrigation season, Eastern Washington can get summer rains. When you get a rainfall greater than 0.2″ in a day, use your “rain delay” setting on your controller to delay the next irrigation, or just skip the next irrigation.
- Unless your soil texture is a sand or sandy loam, both of which have a low water holding capacity, try watering every four days instead of every three days. These changes will make irrigation more efficient. However, since sprinkler run times are longer, there is a risk of exceeding the rate at which your soil can take water. If this happens, the resulting runoff will ruin your efforts to save water. If you see water running off your lawn, go back to the every three-day schedule.