Watering Schedule

How much? How long?

Your outdoor monthly water budget is based on the square footage of your irrigated landscape and the amount of water necessary to maintain a healthy landscape that is comprised of 60% warm season turf and 40% drought tolerant landscape.

If most of your landscape is lawn and you maintain a regular watering schedule with inefficient sprinklers, you will likely be over your allocation and your water bill will go up.

The schedules below are a suggested weekly watering schedule for drip irrigation for drought-tolerant landscape, as well as for traditional spray-head irrigation.

Start with this schedule and adjust the times only if your plants show signs of stress.

 

Spray head schedule

Availalbe in pdf form or use the chart below.

Spray Head Schedule: English/Spanish (pdf)

 

 

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Drip schedules

Available in pdf form or use the charts below

Drip Schedule (pdf) Programar de Goteo

 

 

Schedules assume heavy clay soils common to most of IRWD's service area. Generally, these are the MAXIMUM times you will need for full sun areas. Start with this schedule and adjust the times only if your plants show signs of stress. If stress occurs only in isolated areas, check the operation of your irrigation system before adjusting the times.

*By "cycling" the irrigation controller to turn on for the recommended number of minutes an hour apart, deeper watering and healthier root growth are gained, while runoff is reduced.

** In September, plants' water needs drop by approximately 30 percent even if the temperature is hotter, because the days are shorter, so evaporation decreases. Also plants begin to go into a dormant phase where they need less water. In some years, humidity is also higher, increasing your level of discomfort, but decreasing plants' water needs as it slows the rate of evaporation. This rapid drop in water needs will continue in October and November.

***Some irrigation controllers have a feature by which the watering times can be set by changing the percentages instead of specifically entering the days, cycles and minutes.