In subsequent years, Don noticed that the loss of turf would occur earlier following winters with less-than-normal rainfall. Clearly, maintaining turf quality depended on leaching excess salts from the rootzone. Because of California's subtropical dry-summer climate, intensive irrigation throughout much of the spring, summer and fall would be essential for this purpose. As attempts to leach excess salts were often frustrated by slow infiltration into the compacted soils at Old Ranch, Don initiated a program of intensive cultivation and topdressing. With the acquisition of an electrical conductivity (EC) meter in 1993, Don began taking salt readings on a regular basis. To his surprise, he discovered that the soil between "aerifier" holes following cultivation and irrigation typically remained salty; ECs as high as 6.5 dS/m were measured and the turf continued to decline. From the EC meter data acquired from many sites, Don concluded that discoloration of the turfgrass could be controlled as long as ECs remained below 4.0 dS/m. The EC meter data did not agree exactly with the data from the soil testing laboratory (In making calculations, you might wish to consult the atomic weights of the elements in question). Finally, based on laboratory tests, the quality of the irrigation water might be a factor to consider in developing viable solutions to the salt-related problems.