DENVER — Denver Parks and Recreation exceeded a citywide water conservation goal this season, reducing its water use by 34% — well above the 20% reduction Denver Water requested of the city.
More than 40 irrigation technicians implemented a drought response plan across the city's 330 parks. Denver Parks reduced potable water use by over 40%, saving 335 million gallons compared to its 5-year average.
Watch Jessica Porter's report in the video player below:
Denver Parks and Denver Water are partners of the Associated Landscape Contractors of Colorado, which is transforming the landscape industry with water-wise and native plants now thriving in locations like Congress Park.
Demian Wetzel, water conservation manager for Denver Parks and Recreation, said modernized infrastructure played a key role in the effort.
"Modernizing our irrigation infrastructure to what we call hydro zones to have a special type of sprinkler for a certain landscape, having irrigation zones just for trees, so we can protect them in a time of drought," Wetzel said. "We also have central control, which is a big interconnected irrigation system that's tied to weather stations. We can proactively program it to adju...