Question
went to turn system on and the pump came on but no water on any of the 4 zones
timer seems to be on and i can manually switch to each zone
all wires in the valve box seem in place except one green wire which i assume is the ground is not connected to anything
where is the ground supposed to go to?

Answer
Hi John

If the pump turn on but no water at all, this means the pump lost prime, this is caused for a crack at the suction line or the check valve is open. If there are no evidence of any broken pipe from the pump to the water source the problem (most probably) is the check valve open. The check valve is located close to the place where the pipe enter to the lake/canal. Replace the check valve and the screen canal. Prime the pump and check it(the pump probably burn out if its work without prime).

The ground wire is a white one connected to the port marked COM or C at the controller and connected to all the valves.
Regards
Guillermo