Pueblo Mental Health Irrigation Project Applic

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. . . station for accurate on-campus irrigation related weather inputs. This system would eliminate 36 of the 68 clocks placing 128 zone valves under the control of the field satellites and the central computer. This would place approximately 21 of the 44 acres of lawn grass currently sprinkled under control of the new system. This project would be installed by CMHIP personnel with technical assistance as required from the manufacturer's personnel. 2. MONITORING/TRACKING OF WATER SAVINGS The proposed method of estimating and tracking water conservation is as follows: A. Estimate the historical non-irrigation water consumption based on the average water use during the months of January, February, and March for the period from 1988 thru 1992 (See Table 1). B. Subtract the average monthly non-irrigation water usage from the total water usage for the months of April thru October for the same years to determine the estimated monthly historical irrigation (See Table 2). C. Calculate the Consumptive Use (C.U.) for each irrigation month (April thru October) during the period from 1988 thru 1992 using the Blaney-Criddle Method (See Table 3). D. Trend the historical water usage versus C.U. to give a weather sensitive model for comparison (See Table 4). As can be seen, on an annual basis the model is within 3% of actual for all five years (1988-1992). The trend model can be used to estimate what water volumes would have been without the irrigation control system. E. After installation of the Computerized Irrigation Control System is implemented, use appropriate weather data and historical baseline data to predict what water usage would have been without the irrigation controls and compare with the actual water usage as determined by metering with the irrigation control system. The target irrigation amount will be based on the values tabulated in "Water Requirements for Urban Lawns" published by the Colorado Water Resources Research Institute, Colorado State University. A lawn quality rating of 80%, as discussed in the pUblication will be the target. This value correlates to a lawn that has a high quality appearance. These values are based on an average value for C.U. for Pueblo and will be adjusted for actual weather conditions at the site. A comparison of historical irrigation versus minimum theoretical irrigation (based on consumptive use), with the computerized irrigation control system in operation on 21 out of 51 acres, is presented in Table 5 to show what the maximum potential water savings could have been from 1988 thru 1992. Actual savings in the future will depend on how well the target irrigation amount can be achieved. -6-