Are Green Lawns a Thing of the Past with the New Rules?

Governor Brown has asked for an across the board mandatory 25% reduction in water use.  Talk on the street includes “brown is the new green” and people say days of having a nice green lawn are over with.  Until someone says we can’t water our lawns at all, I maintain that it is still possible to have a nice lawn and save 35% or more over what we have used in the past.

The average lawn has water waste issues more than water use issues.  There are leaky valves and heads, poor water coverage; primitive spray nozzles that apply water faster than the soil can absorb it, and old school time clocks that never adjust to the ups and downs in the weather thus over watering much of the year to meet the demands of the hottest months. 

Irrigation should all start with great uniform coverage with 100% overlap of spray patterns. We all know if we have a dry spot where the coverage is weak that you can hide it by just increasing the watering time to eventually get the area moist enough.  This is “watering to the drier area”.  This is water wastage.

I would like to explore the beauty of using high efficiency spray nozzles like the MP Rotator. The MP Rotator is the standard for uniformity with varying distance streams of water. A typical spray nozzle is 50-60% efficient whereas the MP's are 80-90% efficient on coverage.  The other advantage is their low precipitation rate that allows the soil absorption to keep up with the water application and eliminating runoff.  This is especially beneficial for clay or compacted soils that are slower to take water and more likely to have runoff issues.  If you apply water faster than the soil can absorb it you will have runoff or at the very least some puddling.   Even though run times are significantly longer the water savings is up to 30% and with little or no runoff.

MP Rotators are a rotary nozzle which means they deliver multiple, individually distinct fingers of water as it revolves around a central axis. Most have adjustable radii and arcs to adjust to the shape of the area being irrigated.  Plus, they look cool. They can easily replace the traditional spray nozzle in the same sprinkler body, but new longer cycle times must be set to be sure they provide enough water.  Do not mix these heads with other types on the same station as the precipitation rates will not match and you will end up having wet and dry spots. 

Next time we will talk about the benefits of the new Smart Clocks and how they too can save a ton of water and meet or surpass the governor’s mandates.

For more information on water management with today’s technologies contact Aqua Man at 559-475-5555 or email at aquamanfresno@gmail.com.