We are in the middle of the worst drought in 50 years.... (Full Version)

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jlf1961 -> We are in the middle of the worst drought in 50 years.... (3/8/2014 3:15:38 AM)

West Texas is in the middle of the worst drought in at least 50 years. There are restrictions on when you can water your yards, and it aint even spring yet.

Now, that you have all the information you need to respond to the following.

St Augustine Sod is expensive, and right now is not really the best time to lay sod, even though we are having some nice warm, 80+ degree days. That bitch Mother Nature is going to nail us again, for instance yesterday was 76 degrees, today the high is gonna be in the 40's.

Mr. "Got more money than common sense", dropped a large sum of cash on a truck load, as in tractor trailer, of St. Augustine sod to set up his yard around his brand new house. And we are talking a big yard, the house sets back from the road a good 20 yards, and there is a good 100 feet between houses.

He paid for a crew to neatly lay all this sod in his yard over the last two days. Sod was kinda green, more brown, but kinda green.

Water restrictions right now are watering lawns twice a week, in some counties once a week with talk of eliminating lawns altogether.

Now the question.

Does this guy really expect to have that golf course perfect lawn?

Hell, even golf courses don't have the perfect green grass on the courses.



ShaharThorne -> RE: We are in the middle of the worst drought in 50 years.... (3/8/2014 5:09:36 AM)

MAybe the armadillos and wild boars will teach him a lesson...



MasterCaneman -> RE: We are in the middle of the worst drought in 50 years.... (3/8/2014 6:37:53 AM)

He'll learn the hard way, they always do. I went through a nasty drought in Utah in the eighties, and there were a number of dumbasses who did the same thing. One guy even got a thirty-day jail sentence because he kept getting caught watering his lawn. Blame the contractor who supplied him as well, he knew that this would happen, and is planning on redoing the whole job in a year or so when it dies on him. Some people can be Mensa-level, yet not aware that if grass isn't growing in an area they move to, there's probably a very good reason for it.



DomKen -> RE: We are in the middle of the worst drought in 50 years.... (3/8/2014 7:25:59 AM)

Just turn him in when you see him trying to water it more than is allowed.



MercTech -> RE: We are in the middle of the worst drought in 50 years.... (3/8/2014 8:12:15 AM)

And using water hog St Augustine in an arid area is nuts A Fescue would be better.

A good case for changing building codes to allow for divided sewage treatment. aka Blackwater/Greywater separation.

The outflow from your sinks and showers will water a lawn very well and soap actually acts as a fertilizer. The outflow from a toilet requires treatment.

Commercial installations have been doing this for decades in some locations. But, to my knowledge, extremely few local building codes will allow a homeowner to do this. Think about it, reuse of greywater for irrigation will reduce the load on a septic tank or municipal sewage treatment plant by 2/3.

Look at the whole system not just the part you tripped over. <grin>



MasterCaneman -> RE: We are in the middle of the worst drought in 50 years.... (3/8/2014 8:15:15 AM)

I'd be concerned about what happens if that stuff got into the groundwater, even soaps and other relatively 'benign' chemicals. One-word solution: "Astroturf".



Phoenixpower -> RE: We are in the middle of the worst drought in 50 years.... (3/8/2014 8:25:39 AM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: MasterCaneman

He'll learn the hard way, they always do. I went through a nasty drought in Utah in the eighties, and there were a number of dumbasses who did the same thing. One guy even got a thirty-day jail sentence because he kept getting caught watering his lawn. Blame the contractor who supplied him as well, he knew that this would happen, and is planning on redoing the whole job in a year or so when it dies on him. Some people can be Mensa-level, yet not aware that if grass isn't growing in an area they move to, there's probably a very good reason for it.


Dito...we also had such dumbasses back in 2002...when we had restrictions placed upon us...



smileforme50 -> RE: We are in the middle of the worst drought in 50 years.... (3/8/2014 3:50:15 PM)

I never did understand the obsession some people have with their lawns. I mean....keep it trimmed so it doesn't look like a wild meadow...yes....but if it turns brown because you're having a drought and are under water restrictions? What are these people thinking? "Oh my God! If I don't have a lush bright green lawn, none of my friends or family will ever talk to me again!" Is that really a risk? Do people dissolve friendships and end relationships because other people don't have lush green lawns?

I just don't get it.....



DomKen -> RE: We are in the middle of the worst drought in 50 years.... (3/8/2014 4:43:22 PM)

Back in the 80's I was stationed in San Diego and had an apartment right along the La Jolla border. La Jolla is an incredibly ritzy neighborhood, Mitt Romney lives there. All of Southern California had been under a drought for years. In San Diego all the lawns were brown at best and a lot of people had just given in and gone with cactus or green gravel. In La Jolla every lawn was bright green. I could watch the sprinklers every morning before I left for work. So my entire apartment building got put on trickle faucets because one woman filled a kiddie pool. I called the city and the water guy came out looked at all those green lawns, shrugged and said he take the trickle faucet off if I'd shut up. It's amazing what enough money can do.

I wonder if those lawns are green right now?



jlf1961 -> RE: We are in the middle of the worst drought in 50 years.... (3/8/2014 5:19:00 PM)

Now if you have a well you can water as much as you want....

Now the area where this subdivision is located, (same as the house I am buying) has a relatively shallow water table, at 375 feet you hit water.

However, there is a slight problem, it is salt water.

So you go another 250 feet and hit fresh water, which has to be 'dirtied" to use for irrigation, otherwise it leaches the minerals out of the soil.



ElectraGlide -> RE: We are in the middle of the worst drought in 50 years.... (3/8/2014 7:22:40 PM)

Drought is bad, but it is good for treasure hunting. The lower the water level is in lakes and ponds, the further out you can metal detect. Old coins and rings are lost where people get in and out of the waters edge while swimming. I have been looking at the Todays Finds forum on Treasure-Net seeing the stuff found in drought areas.



tj444 -> RE: We are in the middle of the worst drought in 50 years.... (3/8/2014 8:10:24 PM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: MasterCaneman
One-word solution: "Astroturf".

exactly.. and the fake grass now looks quite realistic.. plus bonus- you don't need to do any work like mowing, edging, weeding, etc and no mower expense... saves you in the long run, imo.. and doggie cant kill fake grass! [:D]



MalcolmNathaniel -> RE: We are in the middle of the worst drought in 50 years.... (3/8/2014 8:28:04 PM)

I know some people in Pennsylvania who will PAY you to come and take some of their accumulated water off their property.

The shipping might be a bitch when it starts to melt though.



DomKen -> RE: We are in the middle of the worst drought in 50 years.... (3/8/2014 8:30:11 PM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: MalcolmNathaniel

I know some people in Pennsylvania who will PAY you to come and take some of their accumulated water off their property.

The shipping might be a bitch when it starts to melt though.

I've got some too. They can have it cheap.



MercTech -> RE: We are in the middle of the worst drought in 50 years.... (3/8/2014 9:01:42 PM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: MasterCaneman

I'd be concerned about what happens if that stuff got into the groundwater, even soaps and other relatively 'benign' chemicals. One-word solution: "Astroturf".

Most soaps actually act as fertilizer when diluted. Unless you are dumping motor oil and paint thinner down the drain, it would actually be good for the soil.

As to the water table, the hazard from soaps would be nitrates. The amount of nitrates residential greywater would percolate to the groundwater is really miniscule compared to an annual application of fertilizer.
And the hazard from nitrates in drinking water is scale buildup in the hot water heater and high nitrates are toxic to delicate tropical fish.
You can get a thorough test of your drinking water for non organic pollutants by using an aquarium test kit available at most pet stores that stock tropical fish.



DesFIP -> RE: We are in the middle of the worst drought in 50 years.... (3/8/2014 9:57:40 PM)

We had a drought back in the 70s. I recall my father paying someone to dye the brown grass green.
Not one of his best ideas.



ThePrincessKali -> RE: We are in the middle of the worst drought in 50 years.... (3/8/2014 11:21:20 PM)

I wonder why they aren't enforcing water restrictions in CA. We're having a pretty bad drought as well.



kalikshama -> RE: We are in the middle of the worst drought in 50 years.... (3/9/2014 11:55:18 AM)

Are they not enforcing violations by people you have personally reported?



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