07/18/2013AP - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

Urban Water Quality and Fertilizer Ordinances:Avoidina Unintended Consequences:A Review. .. 16 management authorities for pertinent rules on degree of uniformity of water application(Baum et irrigation water availability. al.,2005). In a study in North Carolina,Osmond and Hardy Nutrient and water management go together for (2004)found that residents with movable sprinklers maintaining healthy turfgrass(Dukes,2008;Dukes et used about one-half the water as residents with fixed al.,2009).Proper irrigation management is needed systems.Automatic systems that irrigate during for healthy turf and to prevent nutrient losses.An rainfall or when the soil is saturated,or that simply urban irrigation scheduler tool is available on the over-irrigate all intensify leaching and runoff Florida Automated Weather Network(FAWN)at potential(Hull and Liu,2005).Irrigation and http://fawn.ifas.ufl.edu/tools/Urban_inigation/.This fertilization practices go hand-in-hand.Properly tool allows a user to determine irrigation controller fertilized and irrigated turf results in minimal nutrient runtime estimates with three clicks of the computer losses to the environment(Beard and Green, 1994). mouse.Research has shown that using guidelines such as this tool can reduce irrigation by as much as Morton et al.(1988)studied N losses from 30%(Haley et al.,2007).Careful attention to Kentucky bluegrass in Rhode Island.N mass losses irrigation helps keep the water and nutrients in the due to leaching were 21b/acre with the root zone where nutrients will be used to grow managed-irrigation treatment(tensiometer)and 30 healthy turfgrass and not be lost to the environment. lb/acre with the over-watered treatment.The N loss with the managed irrigation treatment was the same In summary,proper irrigation management is as the N loss with the non-irrigated control treatment. critical for achieving minimal nutrient Iosses for the Leaching,not runoff,was the main avenue of loss of urban landscape,irrespective of time of year.The N.Runoff occurred only on two occasions,once research shows that timing of fertilizer in relation to when rain fell on frozen ground and once when rain rain or irrigation is important for minimizing leaching fell on an already saturated soil. of nutrients.There are websites containing assistance in scheduling irrigation and there are"smart Runoff volume from bermudagrass was related irrigation"systems that help take the guesswork out to simulated rainfall amounts and soil moisture level of irrigation management. prior to rain(Shuman,2002).Runoff was 24 to 44% of an applied 50 mm rain and 3 to 27%for the 25 mm Issue#5 What role does reclaimed water rainfall.The greatest mass loss of P was from the first play in nutrient runoff and leaching before, 4 hours after the first rainfall.The P loss decreased during,and after the summer growth period? after 24 hours and for later rain events.Loss of N increased with rate of N.The author suggested that Reclaimed water contains nutrients such as N runoff losses of N and P could be minimized with and P.Where reclaimed water is used for irrigation, small applications of irrigation after fertilizer these nutrients could be leached if nutrient levels are application and by not applying fertilizer before high and if irrigation is excessive.The information heavy rainfall or when the soil is saturated. below is presented to make several points about managing reclaimed water and cautions for relying on Current trends in Florida point to greater reclaimed water as a total substitute for fertilizers mandated water restrictions,even during non-drought during a restricted period.A history of reclaimed periods,to help conserve potable water supplies. water use in Florida,by Toor and Rainey(2009),can Homeowners should be educated about refraining be found at http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ss520.Information from excessive irrigation on"your day,"which could on Florida's reclaimed water program was result in saturated soils,nutrient leaching,and runoff. summarized by Martinez and Clark(2009a). For irrigation recommendations to have maximum benefit,other recommended practices must be Reclaimed water can be a valuable resource for followed.For example,the irrigation system should urban landscapes(Martinez and Clark,2009b; be properly designed and installed to achieve a high Parsons,2009).Many new residential developments have made reclaimed water available for irrigating