Rain, new technology help reduce parks' water use

Computerized sprinkler controls and weather monitors make the most of moisture

BOULDER, Colo. — Heavy rainfall in recent months has allowed cities in Boulder County to cut back on the water used to maintain city parks, golf courses and other green spaces.

Boulder, Broomfield, Lafayette, Louisville, Erie and Superior all use computer-automated systems, some that are wirelessly linked to weather stations, to reduce water use as cued by weather patterns. Those systems can even shut off sprinklers when rain starts to fall.

"There's some really cool new technology that just gets more water delivered to where it belongs," said Paul Bousquet, Boulder Parks and Recreation spokesman.

For April and May, the city budgeted 54.75 million gallons to water baseball fields, parks and golf courses, but only used 6.18 million gallons -- about one-tenth of what was allotted.

"That's a pretty big water savings as a result of how much and how consistently we got precipitation this spring," said Bousquet.

Three strategically-placed weather stations in Boulder and a network of weather information available through a collaboration with the Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District relay information to park stations that trigger sprinkler systems.

Those sprinklers activate based on the evapotranspiration rate, a figure that combines weather conditions including rainfall, humidity, wind, temperature and solar radiation to estimate how much moisture plants have lost because of weather. When the evapotranspiration rate indicates that grass is staying hydrated, the computer system shuts off the sprinklers.

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