By Eric Heinz
In an effort to better maintain and conserve water, Santa Margarita Water District is implementing local weather stations around the district.
Jonathan Volzke, public information officer for Santa Margarita Water District, said the nearest weather station to San Clemente, similar to what the district is implementing, is in Irvine. The new stations will give residents and customers in the water district more accurate readings for moisture, predicting weather and information about when to irrigate.
The systems are linked to the California Irrigation Management Information System.
“The district invested in three weather stations, and they have to be set up in specific areas,” Volzke said. “The data is transmitted to the CIMIS website and (received) by the irrigators. The systems can access it by wireless.
“Initially it’s going to be accessed and very useful for the golf courses and people will be able to get the information directly. The first station is going to be at Talega Golf Club. The other two are going to be in different golf courses where they won’t be affected by surrounding weather locations, such as next to trees or ponds that could change the evaporation,” Volzke added.
The weather stations are currently going through a 30-day calibration before they will be functional for the district, Volzke said.
Visit www.cimis.water.ca.gov for more information on the systems and www.smwd.com for updates.
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