# Water Runoff



## ctrav (Aug 18, 2018)

Hello - I just started watering my lawn once a week with 1" as recommended. This morning was the second week using tis method.

Here is the setup:
Front yard has 6 zones set at 19 min per zone. I run back to back run cycles so a total of 4 cycles to get my 1" of water. There is a 2 hour gap from the time the first zone runs on the first cycle to when the first zone runs on the second cycle and so on.

Grass is cut down to 1 1/2 " but use to be at 3 to 3 1/2".

Issue:
The lawn is not flat as there is a slop so the water runs into the valley resulting in significant runoff/water waste!

I just took soil samples two days ago and the front yard has much more sand than the backyard has. Backyard is more black compacted clay. Front and back where sampled in multiple locations at a depth of 4-5".

Here are some pics and I hope you can see the water collection. Thoughts please!

This is down the middle of the slope area


This is one side of the tunnel on the lawn side


This is out the other side of the tunnel which runs under my driveway


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## ctrav (Aug 18, 2018)

Goal - apply 1 inch of water or close to it on all six zones for the front yard without excessive runoff.

On previous water cycle my start time was 2 am, 4am, 6am and 8am with each zone at 19 min.

New proposed cycle start time 5am, 6am, 9am, 10am, 2pm, 3pm,6pm 7pm with each zone at 9 min. This should eliminate the runoff loss but will it provide the water needed to get close to 1 inch per week?


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## ctrav (Aug 18, 2018)

Thought number two:

Run the sprinklers to water at a half inch twice a week for the total one inch requirement??


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## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

I would not water in the afternoon, that leads to fungus.

What is your precipitation rate on the zones? In/hr?


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## ctrav (Aug 18, 2018)

Spray are 2" per hour - I have them in 2 zones
Rotars 0.45" per hour - I have them in 4 zones

I read that its best to get all the water down at once but that just won't work in my situation. To avoid watering in the afternoon it seems the only other option is to water 1/2 inch on Tuesday and the 1/2 inch on Saturday???


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## ctrav (Aug 18, 2018)

Being new to this forum I was so excited to do some things different and have an awesome looking lawn. This is just another kink that I need to figure out but I cant be the only person this has happened to. Thanks for responding an I appreciate being a member of TLF as there seems to be some awesome folks here.


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## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

Sorry I did not followed up earlier today. I'm doing a lawn renovation in a section of the lawn and have to take advantage of the daylight.

The one inch per week is a guideline not a rule. The ideal is to avoid daily watering to avoid shallow roots. Runoff is something to be avoided since it is wasteful. Have you done an audit of the zone to confirm you are getting 2in/hr and not more? 2 x 19min = 38min which is more than 1in. An audit is done using catch pan/tuna can/straight wall container placed in the zone to measure how many inches of water the zones yield when you run them for 30min or 1hr.

For now, target 3/4in whenever the lawn needs it. I'm not familiar with bermuda, but in the cool season lawns, you will notice the lawn turning a slight green gray color when it is dry. As soon as you see that, water the lawn with 3/4in that morning. The approach of two cycles is great to let the soil absorb, so continue it.


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## ctrav (Aug 18, 2018)

Thanks for the suggestions g-man. I did do the audit but will look closer to see if I missed something.


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## ctrav (Aug 18, 2018)

I made some adjustments based on my last watering experience and "Water My Yard" and "Water is Awesome". I will continue to monitor for runoff as this is a concern.

New Schedule:

Start Times - 4, 6, 8 and 10 am

Water all goes down during the 4 run cycles. Zone run time varies between 3 and 20 min for each zone per cycle.

This is so fun....


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## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

Sounds good.


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## Shadow4478 (Aug 22, 2018)

I have a similar issue but within the control unit (rachio) I played with the numbers until it got it set to acceptable level 
Now it runs that zone first as a pre-soak then it runs it a 2nd time and then a 3rd time while all other zones run twice.


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