Water Management Enhancements To Save Time, Money, Natural Resources

THE CHALLENGE

A Water and Labor-Intensive Landscape In Need of Change

Colorado's OmniPark Metropolitan District needed help. They were trying to keep up a landscape that was requiring large amounts of water and labor hours to maintain. The property in question included two 14 foot-wide medians, planted primarily with Kentucky bluegrass, and an inefficient spray-head irrigation system. The medians offered little aesthetic value and were sucking up resources and time. The district asked if we could help turn things around. 

THE SOLUTION

Smarter Choices Lead to Better Conservation

Our experts needed to find a way to develop a design for the medians that would resonate with the surrounding streetscape and office buildings throughout the district. The solution lay in replacing the water-hungry median turf with a low-water-use landscape consisting of native plants and water-wise trees, shrubs, and perennials. We also removed all the pop-up spray heads and converted the irrigation to a sub-surface drip system. 

THE OUTCOME

Reduced Maintenance and 765,000 Gallons of Water Saved Annually

The landscape at OmniPark is now more water-efficient, easier to maintain, and much more sustainable. The new drip system has eliminated water drift and makes the most of every drop by delivering water directly to the plants. 

The changes made an immediate difference with 250,000 gallons of water saved within the first two months. Based on monthly meter readings, the annual savings in the first year was approximately 765,000 gallons. In addition, the savings in labor hours - thanks to low-maintenance, drought-tolerant landscaping - and these crucial landscaping changes made a huge impact in getting OmniPark Metropolitan District back on the road with eye-catching landscaping and better resource conservation.