Friday, October 27, 2006

How dry is normal and how dry can it get?


The Dark blue lines show the higher rainfall areas with light blue to yellow showing average rainfalls down to 700mm .
See the chart on "otwaysonline" which shows we look like getting ONLY HALF of our average July to September rain. At least a 50yr drought for the whole of Victoria? is it any worse than that?
The growing season in the Otways Hinterland ( not Heytesbury where no extra watering in normal in November )is naturally precarious in November (Map2) because evaporation exceeds average rainfall by nearly 90mm for the month - this IS normal. If you are going to keep active growing plants growing in Colac in November you need to plan to put nearly 100 litres on every sq metre for the month (that's an average month, not a dry one ) Surprisingly, perhaps , its not a lot of water, but its a lot of rain ---that we are unlikely to get, let alone to soak in at this time of year.
If you are using a hose, you can expect to spend 1hr per for every 10 square metres of garden you water (that's for an average November and March in Colac with another 30% more in january and 50% more in a very dry month -planning purposes only). Interestingly, if you ( just 1 person) divert sullage ( shower, kitchen and laundry) to the garden, you can expect to put out enough water to keep 20 square meters of garden per person going in an average November .Who knows how much more if your family is large ? Questions 52335544?