During Utah’s unforgiving summers, conserving water is often a major consideration for residents, city officials and even the state. 

“Water irrigation and conservation has been a big topic in recent years with the city,” Herriman Deputy Director of Parks, Recreation and Events Anthony Teuscher said. 

The Environmental Protection Agency estimates that the average American uses 82 gallons of water per day and the average family can waste around 180 gallons a week through leaks alone. That’s potentially 9,400 gallons of water wasted a year per household.

The many hats of the parks department

Though parks personnel are primarily responsible for park maintenance, the department is entrusted with much more. “We do have a broad range of things that we do,” Teuscher said. 

Parks personnel are often involved in the construction process of new parks and other projects. During winter months, they also operate and maintain the ice ribbon, including creating ice. As temperatures rise, the ribbon is transformed into a splash pad overseen by parks staff. 

The upkeep of playgrounds, green spaces, open spaces and trails naturally falls to the parks department. “With all of that comes a lot of weeding, mowing and trimming… there’s a lot of emptying garbage cans… and cleaning bathrooms and other facilities that we operate,” Teuscher said.

Herriman currently has 49 parks, 18 restrooms, 7.8 million square feet of public grass and 30 miles of trails; the city expects these numbers to keep growing. “We do all the irrigation on that as well, and that’s one thing that keeps us immensely busy throughout the summer,” Teuscher said. 

City conservation efforts

An important aspect of maintaining Herriman’s watering systems is monitoring sprinkler heads. The city is divided into six irrigation zones, and within each zone, there are tens of thousands of sprinkler heads and thousands of valves. Making sure that each head and valve is functioning properly is crucial to prevent water loss. 

“They’re constantly monitoring, auditing and checking those heads, making sure they’re spraying where they’re supposed to and that we don’t have any geysers or leaks. They’re fixing breaks and leaks… it’s non-stop… during the summer months,” Teuscher said. Often, sprinkler heads are damaged by bike riders, curious children, or even motorcycles, which are prohibited on grass. 

In 2021, Utah’s Gov. Cox declared a drought emergency and issued an executive order mandating water conservation at all state facilities. Herriman responded by continuing its conservation efforts and implementing additional best practices for reducing water usage. 

One of these measures was watering no more than three days a week in lightly used areas, such as park strips, versus five days a week in more heavily used areas, such as recreational fields. “It’s okay if [park strips] are a little dry and they’re a little brown during the summer months… we just decided we were going to be okay with that,” Teuscher said. 

Actively focusing on water conservation has caused “a culture shift” within the parks department. Employees now work to find underlying problems, such as disease, that may cause brown spots in the grass rather than simply increasing the water. 

These and other conservation efforts allowed the city to maintain the same amount of water used in 2018 and 2019 despite increasing green space acreage. In 2022, the parks department cut usage by 18% and by 6% last year—all while increasing green spaces within the city.

“I want to give residents credit, too… Even though Herriman is growing both population-wise and in public [facilities]... watering has actually gone down the last few years…” Teuscher said. “I think people are realizing, ‘hey, we’re really in a water crunch’… we’ve all got to chip in and do our part in order to have a long-term effect on our water supply.” 

What you can do now

In another executive order given last year, Cox again mandated water conservation measures, and two months ago, he urged residents to continue conserving. 

Though we had a wet winter, conservation is always needed to protect against future dry spells. “Utah is a desert. We are either in drought or preparing for the next one,” the Utah Department of Natural Resources says on its website. 

A Herriman ordinance prohibits residents and HOAs from watering between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. “Typically, it’s windier… during the daytime… so you’re going to get a lot more drift… and evaporation is higher during that time frame as well,” Teuscher said. Exceptions for the city include system audits and caring for freshly planted seeds or newly laid sod.

Because of its many responsibilities, the parks department asks for help from residents to minimize wasting water. It encourages phone calls about any water-related problems, especially damaged sprinkler heads. Even if residents see a potential issue in an HOA-maintained park, the city will gladly alert the proper individuals. 

“We do rely quite a bit on residents. If they see a pattern that’s concerning… report it…,” Teuscher said. “The more information they can get us the better… snap a picture… and send it to us. That helps us out tremendously...”

The Utah Department of Natural Resources offers indoor water conservation tips. It suggests residents reuse cooking water to hydrate plants, fill the sink to wash dishes and produce instead of leaving the faucet on, run dishwashers and washing machines only when full, replace old shower heads and toilets and take quicker showers.  

Outdoor conservation tips include directing gutters and rain spouts toward plants, installing water-wise landscaping, ensuring sprinklers don’t spray cement areas and letting kids play in the water only over areas of your yard that need moisture.

Even small conservation efforts can make a difference, and gallons saved begin to add up quickly. For more information and tips, visit conservewater.utah.gov.  λ