Acre-Foot - 43,560 cubic feet or 325,900 gallons
One acre-foot covers one acre of land, which is around the size of a football field, one foot deep.
CFS - cubic feet per second; 1 cfs = 450 gallons per minute or 646,360 gallons per day
ET - Evapotranspiration
This refers to the combination of water lost through evaporation from the soil and moisture that has transpired from the leaves of plants. It changes according to weather conditions such as temperature, wind, and humidity as well as the length of daylight. As a measure of the amount of water lost to plants, it tells us how much water should be replaced to keep plants healthy.
Most people realize that plants need more water during the long hot days of summer than in the shorter and cooler days of spring and fall. However, knowing even approximately how much sprinkling is needed has long been a mystery…until now. ET provides easy answers that can help anyone who irrigates better match the amount of water their plants need with the amount of water they apply.
Resetting sprinkling times occasionally using ET often reduces overwatering, and results in healthier plants too. Moreover, it isn’t difficult to do. From spring through fall, the Medford Water Commission provides current ET information through its Lawn Watering Infoline, (541) 774-2460. Updated weekly, the Infoline tells how much water, in inches, was lost during the last week, and how much should therefore be replaced the next week, based on local weather conditions.
To use ET, you simply need to know how quickly your sprinklers apply an inch of water. The Infoline explains how to do this, and provides other tips for irrigating more effectively. So give us a call and sprinkle wisely!
MGD - million gallons per day
