Rain showers could save the city $240,000

The folks who take care of Colorado Springs' parks were glad it rained every day of Memorial Day weekend.

"It was wonderful!" said Kurt Schroeder, maintenance manager for the city's parks.

Watering the city's 869 acres of grass costs $40,000 a night. During the summer, the city usually waters once every three nights. When it rains enough, park managers can turn the sprinklers off for a few days. A week of drenching rain means the city may not turn on the sprinklers until June 1, saving an estimated $240,000.

The savings could not come at a better time. City parks were hit by a perfect storm in 2009. Dry city coffers forced the City Council to wring dollars out of the irrigation budget . At the same time, Colorado Springs Utilities raised the price of irrigation water by 44 percent.

It would take about $2.5 million to give city grass the recommended ration of water this year, Schroeder said. The irrigation budget is $1.7 million. So Schroeder had to cut the amount of water most parks receive in half.

Then it didn't snow most of the winter, making the situation worse.

A wet April turned most parks green. They were just starting to dry out again when the latest spate of showers hit.

"We were about to turn on the sprinklers," said Schroeder. "But with the rains, we'll let Mother Nature do the work."

The region is still below average for precipitation this year, he noted. By this time in May, according to the National Weather Service, the region usually has received 5.2 inches of precipitation. In 2009, the region has received 3.9 inches.

"So we are still behind," Schroeder said. But every time it rains, the sprinklers are turned off and the money is squirreled away for when the summer heat hits. The money may also be used to reseed areas, such as America the Beautiful Park, where grass died this winter.

"Every penny we don't spend now," Schroeder said, "we will be able to use come July and August."

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Contact the writer at 636-0223.