Turfgrass Consumptive Use Values for the Tucson Area
ntroduction
Consumptive use (CU) curves that provide average
rates of turfgrass evapotranspiration (ETT) are widely
used by irrigation professionals for design and management
of turfgrass irrigation systems. For approximately
35 years, the bermudagrass lawn CU curve
developed by the United States Department of Agriculture
(Erie et al., 1965; Erie et al., 1982) has served as the
lone published CU curve for turfgrass in Arizona.
While the USDA CU curve has proven useful to the turf
industry, turf professionals do question whether ETT
values obtained from the curve are relevant to turf systems
commonly used in Arizona today. The USDA
curve was developed for the summer turf season using
a low-maintenance common bermudagrass mowed to
a height of 3.8 cm (1.5") every four weeks, and watered
every two weeks using flood irrigation (Garrot and
Mancino, 1994). A relevant turf system today consists
of hybrid bermudagrass maintained at a height of ~ 2
cm (0.75") and watered at frequent intervals using sprinkler
irrigation. The practice of overseeding with
ryegrass in the fall to maintain green cover in winter is
also common today. The USDA CU curve does not
address the issue of overseeding and provides no information
on ETT for the period mid-October through
mid-April.
AZ1313
Keywords:
- turf
- Irrigation
- Tucson
- evapotranspiration
- consumptive use
Publication Date:
April 2003
AZ1313
Pages:
3 pp.