Ever wonder how much water your lawn needs at any given time? The amount of irrigation needed for a healthy, drought-resistant lawn fluctuates weekly due to rainfall and temperature dependent evapotranspiration.
Sure - you understand the water issues facing the gulf coast region - drought, insufficient water supply and subsidence to name a few. But like the rest of us, you’re no agronomist (apologies to all that think Aggies have an innate connection with growing things) and you have other concerns taking up your mental capacity that don’t allow you to delve into the subject of condition specific lawn irrigation. So what are you to do?
Fear not! Our friends at the Lone Star Groundwater Conservation District - aka “LSGCD” - have your solution! Well, it’s only for Montgomery County and it is a work in progress, but I think it is an exciting concept that will spread in the years to come. The LSGCD has launched a website that provides weekly area-specific watering recommendations for seven locations in Montgomery County. You can find those recommendations at http://www.lonestargcd.org/conservation/. This effort is in the beta stages, but they have improvements in the works, including adding other weather stations, and an interactive map.
All of us in the regional engineering sphere (land development, water resources, municipal engineering, etc.) know that water prices are only going up. And water that is saved through conservation is the cheapest water of all. So this is an innovative step to inform otherwise unconcerned water consumers on how they can save money, and save precious water for our prosperous, growing region. Good job LSGCD!
