Stage 2 Drought

Denver water just issued a stage 2 drought for the spring/summer of 2013 starting April 1st.

With a dry spring and summer in 2012 and a below average snow pack in 2013 mandatory restrictions for watering have to be practiced!  We need to  protect our quality water for our health and safety.

Everyone should practice water conservation even if we are in not in a drought.
Below are some tips to help conserve our most valuable resource.  FYI we only water the golf course two times a week in the heat of the summer. If we can do that on the course homeowners and easily do that on their home lawns.

- Only water in the early morning or late evening.
- Install rain sensors so your irrigation system turns off when raining.
- Hand water dry spots of turf  instead of irrigating the entire lawn.
- Always use a spray nozzle on the end of your garden hose.
- Plant low water use plant material and grass species
- Use Organic based fertilizers
- Drip irrigation to landscape plants.
- Keep your lawn at a higher height of cut 3 inches.
- Check to see if your irrigation system is working properly.  ie leaks, sprinkler adjustment.
- Use low flow shower heads, toilets and faucets.
- Install low water energy efficient appliances.
- Turn off water when shaving, brushing teeth, washing hands.

All these little tips will help us conserve our water!



Denver Water Link Below

http://www.denverwater.org/SupplyPlanning/DroughtInformation/DroughtConditions/

Software Gremlin's

Everyone has software gremlins in their computer occasionally but when that software runs a large irrigation system even stranger things happen. On Sunday night around 7pm I received a strange call that the irrigation was running on #13 green? Even stranger this happened 12 hours after a large spring snow storm.  People were thinking what is going on?  

Well we had just started charging up our summer laterals earlier that week, so most holes were charged and operational.  Our irrigation clocks in the field have three different modes  OFF, CENTRAL and  STAND ALONE. In the off mode the power is on in the clock, but the software is in a sleep mode. In Central mode  the clock is  controlled by the computer and in Stand Alone mode the internal software runs  the clock. All 32 clocks were in off mode except three holes #13, #5, #7  they were in stand alone?  So in this mode the clocks  will run the last program that was downloaded, all the way back from our last irrigation cycle in November 2012. 

So at 7pm on Sunday evening the irrigation started on those holes that were in stand alone mode, thinking the central computer was down!  The Toro irrigation clocks in the field have a fail safe,  they will store the last program downloaded indefinitely in case your central computer goes down. With this fail safe you will still be able to water the golf course.  

After gathering all the data and information on Monday morning we figured that the all the clocks were in the OFF mode on Thursday evening, but some irrigation maintenance was done on  those three holes Friday morning,  and the clocks were not turned back to the off mode.  Lesson Learned! 

Thanks to everyone who noticed the water was on and recognized that is shouldn't of been!

Now that's how you winter water!

Perfect Timing

Today was the perfect time to apply our custom wildflower seed mix  with an approaching spring snow storm. Starting tonight we are expected 6-10 inches of heavy wet snow. The spring snow is not only good for the course and the farmers in the plains, its also a great time to apply wildflower seed.  There are still  cracks and fishers in the native soil from the freeze and thaw over the winter, creating a optimal seed bed for the wildflower seed. We are applying 125 pounds of seed on approximately 25 acres in select native locations.  Lets hope for a few more spring snow storms and warmer weather for germination of the seed. 

Jason on #11 valley 

Applying the seed 

GHIN

Tee markers are going out today, ready for handicap postings starting tomorrow!
Snow is melting extremely fast now and the course is drying out. With temperatures in the upper 60s and 70s the next few days we might be playing golf soon!

Big Time

With this most recent spring snowstorm we received some Monster drifts, Some over 3 feet tall! The moisture is great but it is going to be a while before the course will open!