The Communicator - Volume 1, Issue 3 - (Page 16)

• Species name by plant or grouping of plants; • Water requirements (Kc); • Pruning requirements/cycle; • Disease and insect control requirements; and, • Special requirements. This information is used in developing a landscape-maintenance specification, determining site water requirements and renovation planning. LANDSCAPE IRRIGATION MONITORING AND COST CONTROL With water shortages looming (even in good rainfall years), many water providers are now imposing voluntary or mandatory cutback requirements, and moving toward tiered rates, with the potential for greatly increased association water costs. Therefore, monitoring an association’s water use is crucial. The association that bases this year’s landscape water budget (you are budgeting landscape water use separately, aren’t you?) on a percentage of last year’s costs may be in for a very rude awakening! There- fore, every association needs a timely landscape irrigation monitoring system (LIMS). Many water-provider invoices provide some degree of monitoring, whether it’s a comparison to past use, a site allocation, or site budget based on the size of the landscape and its location. Since these invoices are usually generated every two months and must go through an accounting process, most association boards are unaware of water use and costs until, quite literally, the water has passed under the bridge. Monitoring involves three quite different approaches: • “Required – site” is the requirement of the site based on its zone parameters. This monitoring compares use to actual landscape requirements. Using its GIS and the parameter factors described above, each association can determine its actual site water requirements by irrigation zone, irrigation controller, and water meter. Review and analysis can reveal where and how a site’s water requirement can be reduced, but it is what it is. Circumstances (i.e., drought, mandatory rationing, shortage of funds, etc.) may require deficit irrigation (i.e., applying less water than the landscape requires). This obviously is a detriment to the landscape asset, but may be a necessity. Analysis using the association’s GIS may provide answers to perplexing questions. • “Required – provider” is the allocation or water budget the water provider determines and reflects more the water provider’s water supply (or lack of it) and how the provider allocates those supplies to each user than what the site actually requires. Be prepared for more voluntary or mandatory restrictions. They will surely come. • “Required – association budget” is an entirely different view and reflects what the association has budgeted (typically the same dollar amount each month) and does not take into account the seasonality of water use. We landscape-and-irrigation types tend to think and talk in volumes of 16 • The Communicator http://www.berding-weil.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of The Communicator - Volume 1, Issue 3

The Communicator - Volume 1, Issue 3 Contents President's Message Eyes in the Sky Down to the Last Drop Ask the Experts - Budget Your Water Usage 2008 Events & Educational Calendar Welcome to CAI BayCen Index to Advertisers

The Communicator - Volume 1, Issue 3

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