No water again. Obviously the material plugging the intake is more encompassing than I can see. The excavator will have to be mobilized again and remove more material after which we can, hopefully, fire up the river pumps and start drawing water. During the initial excavation the volume and depth of water made a more extensive excavation very difficult so the choice was made to wait for the river to drop before completing the maintenance of the intake. Traditionally the volume of water passing by the intake has been similar to what it is now and we were still able to pump.
 |
| September 5, 2012 |
 |
| September 6, 2011 |
 |
| September 9, 2010 |
This time, even with the level of water in the river is relatively good, a single pump can shut down after only 15 minutes operation. Again, something more is going on than I can see. The plan is to address this by weeks end and hopefully resolve the issue and replace the boulders and be ready for next years run off. I'll be limiting irrigation again to stretch out the available water in the reservoir. I'll keep you updated.
As forewarned, we began aerating fairways today. This process is far earlier than usual but the drive to control expenses moved the aeration up. By next Wednesday a portion of staff will be finished for the year and without bodies the chances of completing the fairway aeration by starting at the more traditional time of late September would be very slim. Not aerating to save money would be a poor choice since the benefits of aeration, although not immediately obvious, are still dramatic and help in creating a better playing surface and healthier turf.
Based on hours from last year, the wage cost of a fairway aeration was around $13.50/hr for 131.5 hrs for an amount of $1775 and close to $250 in fuel for a total just over $2000 (because I am tracking fuel usage more closely this year I should be able to calculate a more accurate number for the actual cost per hour). The important thing to remember is no extra staff is brought in, no over time is needed, and there is no other extra expenses (i.e. material goods such as sand, etc.) except for fuel. For the next few weeks staff is still needed to mow and maintain the course so a wage savings by not aerating would not be there for September. The only difference this time out we are doing more of the fall work "in golf season", if you will. Any savings will be realized in October by running a smaller staff then since some of the regular fall work will have been completed.
