Parks Watering Plan

The Parks Division has developed a watering schedule to maintain our parks and facilities. The goal is to apply 1/2 inch of water per water cycle. The frequency of watering varies depending on the type of facility and it’s primary use.

We are in the process of updating our irrigation controllers to ET-based Weather Track controllers. Currently, 30% of our parks use these controllers, which act as an on-site weather station and regulates the water schedule based on weather and climate. Another 45% of facilities use historic ET-based controllers. The remaining 25% use standard controllers.

Leisure Parks, Detention Basins, Public Building Grounds

Frequency: Every 3-4 Days
Water Window: 10 p.m. to 12 p.m.

Wines Park: Wines Park faces unique issues related to high use and an inefficient irrigation system. As such, the park may be watered more frequently and during daytime hours. This may especially be the case in the weeks leading up to and following Round-Up Celebration, when the park sees significant impact from the event.

Active Sports Parks

Frequency: Sunday, Monday, Wednesday, Friday
Water Window: 10:45 p.m. to completion

Active sports parks require more frequent watering due to ware on turf. Most of these parks have too many zones and not a large enough point of connection, or not enough pressure, to finish in one watering window. Watering may occur during daytime hours.

Cemetery

Frequency: Every 3-4 days per zone.
Water Window: 8 p.m. to 8 a.m. in lower cemetery, starting at 2 p.m. in the upper cemetery.

The cemetery is a 55 acre property and as such, water will be running every day. However, each area will only be watered twice a week.

Exceptions

The following exceptions will alter the water schedule: new landscape, dry spots, system failure recuperation, construction, event recovery. Kensington Park and Park View Park both have one 1/2″ point of connection which require over 30 hours to get through one watering cycle. As such, water will be running every day in order to complete two water cycles a week.

Why does the city water during the day?

The parks and facilities pressurized irrigation system is designed to operate with 75 or more pounds of pressure. Most of the watering season we are not able to reach these pressures during normal watering hours of 6 p.m. to 10 a.m. As a result, some parks and facilities will be watered during daytime hours. At times the city may also water outside of the preferred water window to ensure adequate pressure for residents.