Ft Collins Soil Amendment Applic

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The remainder of the information located was purely theoretical; identifying the water savings of adding an organic amendment, such as composted manure, under very controlled circumstances of idealized irrigation practices. As we know, the reality of the public's lawn watering practices is far from ideal. At the extreme, it may be that the average homeowner would irrigate his lawn in the same exact manner, whether or not composted manure was added, even though it actually required less with the amended soil. This would be due to the homeowner not knowing how to determine the actual water requirements of the landscape, or choosing to not take the time to apply that knowledge if he had it. Conducting a research study to obtain the actual water savings benefits of adding composted manure to landscape soils would be valuable not only to the City of Fort Collins, but to many other communities in Colorado and the western U.S. Although there would be qualifications to applying these research results to other locations with different soils, watering practices, water rates, etc., there would still be applicability to many sites. 4. The public would be directly involved in this research, in that 100 Fort Collins families would serve as subjects. Half of these families would financially contribute to the study by paying for half of the cost of the composted manure. This cost paid by the community would be approximately $6,250 (50 families x $125/family). 5. As mentioned previously, the study results would be shared with the community through public education methods, including xeriscape and water conservation literature and presentations. This would be directed at the general public, in addition to landscape contractors, nurseries, builders/developers, and people buying new-built homes. Additionally, the results would be included as part of the promotion of any soil amendment rebate program that may result from these findings. Of course, the extent and type of public education or rebate program would be dependent upon the degree of water savings found in the study. 6. What makes this proposed research study innovative is that it is designed to determine actual water savings from incorporating composted manure in landscape soils, as opposed . to theoretical water savings. Landscape irrigation would consist of typical watering V practices, rather than the precise minimum as determined by a researcher. To our knowledge, this has not been determined for any case that is relevant to Colorado communities. The results of this study would benefit the City of Fort Collins in several ways. The results would be critical information in determining what method to use--if any--to further the practice of amending landscaping soils with composted manure. Furthermore, the results would be the basis for calculations to determine the extent of expenditures on any effort. 3