HOUSTON – Houston-area lawns need irrigation to keep them healthy in the summer, but overwatering contributes to water quality issues and water waste. Overall, lawn watering accounts for approximately 40 percent of residential water usage. Texas A&M Agrilife Extension specialists developed the WaterMyYard tool to promote water conservation and keep local residents’ lawns and wallets greener by providing recommendations on smart lawn irrigation.
Using local weather data, WaterMyYard determines the precise amount of supplemental water that is needed to maintain a healthy lawn and delivers recommendations of how long to operate irrigation systems to area residents for free via email, text message, or app notifications. Recommendations are based on the type of irrigation system used and an extensive network of weather stations and rain gauges across the state. Six evapotranspiration weather stations across the Houston-Galveston Area collect data to calculate plant watering requirements, and over 100 Harris County Flood Control District rain gauges provide recent rainfall data for every zip code in the area.