Special thank you to Chris Kanan of Ope Its Mow Time for having us on the show! This was a great discussion about the challenges facing turfgrass and the role TWCA is playing in identifying and promoting drought tolerant turfgrass. TWCA's Executive Director, Jack Karlin talks about the role of independent third-party evaluation in protecting greenspaces and what homeowners can do to make every drop count!

Check out The Lawn Feed for more great content!

Over the course of twelve years and in cooperation with some of the brightest minds in turf science today Turfgrass Water Conservation Alliance (TWCA) has developed the protocols and technologies for turf evaluation that are now standard industry wide. The key for TWCA, in the quest to define drought tolerance in turfgrass, is open and clear channels for communication. 

Turfgrass Water Conservation Alliance (TWCA) created the Irrigation Calculator (based on this calculator from Pennington) to help end-users predict the runtimes of their irrigation systems.  Simple. 
TWCA collaborated with a network of public and private researchers including Oregon State University, University of Washington, University of Arkansas, and NexGen Plant Science Center, on a series of multi-year inquiries to answer some basic questions about site specific conditions.
The Irrigation Calculator is simple. Click the greenness of your grass (fun fact: during development we called this the "lush level").  Know the irrigation rate and weekly frequency. Remember where you live.  It's true, there are some curveballs in there; not everyone knows if they have TWCA Qualified turfgrasses, but generally, pretty spoon and June.

The calculator itself is an example of interdisciplinary cooperation on a public/private partnership resulting in an immediately useful tool.

SLC Public Utilities Water Conservationist, Stephanie Duer is reporting a 50% reduction in water use at the Concord Lifting Station in the months following the landscape conversion for SLC Turf Trade.  The location was selected for conversion as a demonstration canvas for landscape practices suggested by the Center for Water Efficiency (CWEL). This conversion incorporates a number of different landscaping practices to maximize water efficiency. Common landscape tactics for increasing water efficiency include hydrozoning, or grouping plants according to their water need, turf area reduction, and optimizing irrigation design and hardwater for water efficiency.