Water-Tip (Watermark ATmometER—Timed Irrigation Project)

Project “WATER—TIP” began in May 2005 by installing atmometers and Watermark® sensors at twenty cooperators’ farms throughout the Upper Big Blue NRD. In 2006, we saw the numbers of cooperators jump to 67 members involved with WATER-TIP. As a result, the District offered a program for cost-share in the form of an up-front price break of fifty percent of the cost of ET gauges, Watermark© sensors and meters.

The purpose of the project is to track soil moisture use by crops across the District through measuring evapo-transpiration (ET) with the atmometers and keeping track of soil moisture at each atmometer site with four Watermark® sensors placed at 1-, 2-, 3- and 4-foot depths. (The actual equipment may vary depending on specific needs at each site).