Certain Woodland parks will be irrigated four days per week, rather than the permitted three, in an effort to keep the landscape alive.
Woodland’s City Council agreed to the modification at its recent meeting, but the extra day of watering — namely at Jack Slaven and Douglass parks as well as the Community Center — doesn’t mean using more water.
“(The idea) is to apply less water, more often, so we’re not having to drench and create a run-off situation,” said Public Works Director Greg Meyer.
After the Water Resources Control Board and Governor’s Office ordered California cities to cut water usage by at least 25 percent in May, Woodland chose to limit “outdoor irrigation of ornamental landscapes or turf with potable water” to three days a week between the hours of 6 p.m. and 10 a.m., save drip irrigation.
However, during summer hours when the parks are used more often, Woodland staff only water between the hours of 10 p.m. and 6 a.m.
According to Meyer, this reduces the time water is available and crews aren’t able to get through an entire watering cycle within the three-day allotment due to, in some cases, the high number of valves (up to 120).
“Even with the watering cycle for these largest landscapes divided between different days of the week, staying with the limit of three days per week per valve has resulted in extreme stress to the landscaped areas, with turf browning becoming prevalent,” explained Environmental Resource Analyst Roberta Childers in a staff report. “This is because not enough water can be delivered by each valve in the cycle within the day-of-week and time-of-day restrictions to maintain healthy turf during summer conditions.”
In a June 16 City Council report, city officials noted the likelihood of significant turf loss if this watering schedule is maintained through summer, leading to the loss of community use (of parks) and the need for costly turf replacement in the future.
Councilmen approved the extra day of irrigation at large public access parklands where necessary, so long as all other Stage Two, Water Warning restrictions, including the volume of water used and time of day when irrigation may occur, are maintained.
Woodland has been doing a better job than most California cities with water conservation, achieving a 41 percent reduction in June alone after the Stage 2 Water Warning was declared.
Woodland has cut its water use by more than 40 percent for June compared to the base year of 2013, according to city figures.
