System and method for automated, range-based irrigation

A computer-based shared savings business method for a vendor to provide an irrigation water management system to a customer, the method comprising

• determining, with a computer, historical irrigation water use for the customer;
• the vendor installing, at the vendor's expense, an irrigation water management system for the customer, the irrigation water management system including
• computer-based tracking of customer irrigation water usage, the tracking performed on the computer, and
• range-based irrigation control comprising
• determining a prescribed optimum soil moisture range for the root zone soil area,
• determining the last calculated soil moisture within the root zone soil area;
• calculating actual evaporative water loss and plant water consumption in the root zone soil area,
• calculating effective rainfall added to the root zone soil area,
• determining total scheduled and unscheduled irrigation water added to the root zone soil area,
• calculating current soil moisture volume in the root zone area by subtracting the actual evaporative water loss and plant water consumption in the root zone soil area from the last calculated soil moisture within the root zone soil area, and
• adding the effective rainfall added to the root zone soil area,
• comparing the current soil moisture volume in the root zone area to the prescribed optimum soil moisture range for the root zone area and
• deciding not to apply supplemental irrigation to the root zone area if the current soil moisture volume is within or above the prescribed optimum soil moisture range, and
• deciding to apply supplemental irrigation to the root zone area if the current soil moisture volume is below the prescribed optimum soil moisture range, and calculating the volume of water to be applied to the root zone area during an irrigation event, and
• providing instructions to a plurality of controllers which regulate irrigation water flow in the area, the instructions based on the calculated volume of water to be applied to the root zone area during the irrigation event;
• using the irrigation water management system for a time period;
• determining, with a computer, from the computer-based tracking, actual irrigation water usage at the entity for the time period;
• calculating, with a computer, the cost savings of irrigation water between the actual usage and the historical usage;
• and
• the vendor charging the customer for at least a portion of the cost savings.

A computer-based irrigation water management system method comprising

• the computer-implemented steps of implementing a range-based irrigation algorithm for scheduling the application of water to a root zone soil area in a portion of an irrigation zone, the range-based irrigation algorithm comprising
• determining a prescribed optimum soil moisture range for the root zone soil area;
• determining the last calculated soil moisture within the root zone soil area;
• calculating actual evaporative water loss and plant water consumption in the root zone soil area;
• calculating effective rainfall added to the root zone soil area;
• determining total scheduled and unscheduled irrigation water added to the root zone soil area;
• calculating current soil moisture volume in the root zone area by
• subtracting the actual evaporative water loss and plant water consumption in the root zone soil area from the last calculated soil moisture within the root zone soil area;
• and
• adding the effective rainfall added to the root zone soil area;
• comparing the current soil moisture volume in the root zone area to the prescribed optimum soil moisture range for the root zone area and
• deciding not to apply supplemental irrigation to the root zone area if the current soil moisture volume is within or above the prescribed optimum soil moisture range, and
• deciding to apply supplemental irrigation to the root zone area if the current soil moisture volume is below the prescribed optimum soil moisture range, and calculating the volume of water to be applied to the root zone area during an irrigation event;
• and
• providing instructions to a plurality of controllers which regulate irrigation water flow in the area, the instructions based on the calculated volume of water to be applied to the root zone area during the irrigation event.

An irrigation water management system comprising

• at least one irrigation site comprising
• a plurality of controllers, each controller regulating water flow in at least one irrigation zone, and each irrigation zone comprising at least one root zone soil area;
• and
• at least one processor, the processor implementing a range-based irrigation algorithm for scheduling the application of water;
• the range-based irrigation algorithm comprising, for each root zone soil area
• determining a prescribed optimum soil moisture range for the root zone soil area,
• determining the last calculated soil moisture within the root zone soil area,
• calculating actual evaporative water loss and plant water consumption in the root zone soil area,
• calculating effective rainfall added to the root zone soil area,
• determining total scheduled and unscheduled irrigation water added to the root zone soil area,
• calculating current soil moisture volume in the root zone area by
• subtracting the actual evaporative water loss and plant water consumption in the root zone soil area from the last calculated soil moisture within the root zone soil area, and
• adding the effective rainfall added to the root zone soil area,
• comparing the current soil moisture volume in the root zone area to the prescribed optimum soil moisture range for the root zone area and
• deciding not to apply supplemental irrigation to the root zone area if the current soil moisture volume is within or above the prescribed optimum soil moisture range, and
• deciding to apply supplemental irrigation to the root zone area if the current soil moisture volume is below the prescribed optimum soil moisture range, and calculating the volume of water to be applied to the root zone area during an irrigation event, and
• providing instructions to the plurality of controllers which regulate irrigation water flow in the area, the instructions based on the calculated volume of water to be applied to the root zone area during the irrigation event.