However, as you can see from the chart (click it to enlarge), more than half of that rainfall (8.05 inches) came from just three separate storms. With our sand, a two or three inch rainfall drains away very quickly and is of no greater benefit to the lawn than a half-inch of rain.
Because of the heavy watering schedule necessitated by this summer's weather (usually at the $400 per night setting), I've been reading our water meters regularly and it is clear that we are rapidly approaching the point where we will have used all of the $37,500 we have in our 2012 budget for watering the lawns. As of yesterday, we had only enough money left to water the landscaping for 12 more nights. Therefore as of last night, I reprogrammed the automatic timers to run every other night beginning tonight.
I have been manually reprogramming the automatic sprinklers throughout the summer to stretch our budget dollars. By my records, my reprogramming efforts have saved more than $4,000 worth of water so far this summer. When there have been forecasts for a high chance of rain, I have turned the system off the night before to keep them from running unnecessarily. Also, after the occasional good soakings, I have also stretched our dollars by reprogramming them to run every other night for a few days. The last time I tried this I discovered that after dusk on the evening of Aug. 22nd, someone decided to manually operate a zone valve to provide "extra" water to the lawns in front of their units. This is unacceptable behavior and it has caused me to decide that in 2013 I will no longer "bust my hump" by reprogramming the irrigation system every time there is an opportunity to save this association some budget money by not watering.
Please do not tamper with the sprinkler system to use extra water or I will be forced to shut the entire system down at the water meters and lock the covers. I will not allow this association to overspend its budget for municipal water.
