City just notified us our reclaimed water allotment drops 12% starting June 1, so we’re moving to nightly ET-based scheduling and expanding in-ground moisture sensors from 20 to 35 stations to keep greens at 18–20% VWC without cooking fairways… If your club has hit a similar cut, what’s working for you on run-time tweaks and wetting agent intervals that save water without sacrificing ball roll?
We saved about 10% by tightening cycle-and-soak on greens — ‘1‑min pre‑wet then 3×3 min with 30‑min gaps’ — which kept VWC in the 18–20% range; small caveat: collars still need a quick hand-hit on windy mornings.
Pressure-regulated heads (55 psi) cut misting about 8%; wind hold helped — see https://www.usga.org/course-care/water.html, but watch tee surrounds drying.
I’ve had good luck with a last‑pass veto tied to the sensor clusters: if 2 of 3 nearby probes read >=19% at 2 a.m., the controller cancels the final cycle for those heads. That shaved about 9% for us in June while holding your ‘18–20% VWC’; caveat: recalibrate after topdressing or venting, or the skip logic can overdo it on collars.