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<br />. <br /> <br />Submission of Final Status Report for <br />Water Conservation Upgrades at Smoky Hill Group Picnic Area <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />As part of the original proposal concerning water conservation measures and practices in <br />use at Cherry Creek State Park, the intent was to: increase water efficiency, track water usage, <br />reduce system maintenance, and reduce runoff and water loss below the root zone from <br />excessive watering. <br />The choices of the products outlined in the original proposal contained what was <br />believed at the time were of the most technologically advanced and innovative components. By <br />incorporating these water management solutions into our system at Smoky Hill, it was apparent <br />to me that a few basic improvements could be realized. <br />The efficiency from just a visual standpoint without even a basic audit would be greatly <br />affected. As you watched the performance of our old system you could see due to the age of the <br />components many of the heads did not impact or rotate freely. From the patterns of green and <br />brown grass on the zone areas you could really pinpoint what the problems were. Many of the <br />areas covered by 360 degree coverage heads had failed due to wear on brass moving parts and <br />would not complete a rotation and return. A variety of closed case impact heads had a very short <br />pop up height and would diffuse the water greatly before leaving the nozzle area. <br />The greatest noticeable problem was the amount of water that needed to be applied to <br />keep the grass green. Without prior knowing the efficiency of the system in place, the volume <br />and time on the old controller combined, contributed an enormous amount of watering time and <br />cost to keep the appearance and appeal to the public acceptable. Believing that, a need was <br />apparent to make improvements that could effectively bring the system within at least <br />reasonable limits. My intent was to incorporate a low cost but effective means to improve the <br />distribution and uniformity of what was already in place without total retrofit or replacement. <br /> <br />Implementation <br /> <br />Because of a busy summer and my relative new orientations to the park system, 1 started <br />late on my project. A preliminary evaluation based on an audit of the whole system proved the <br />lack of uniformity and poor distribution of the system. Calculations had shown the uniformity at <br />a low of.33 to a high of .58 and an average of .44. To have an effective distribution of <br />uniformity .97 is near optimum. <br />From the preliminary audit the precipitation rate also had shown similar findings from <br />lows of .39 to .94 on the high end and an average of .58. In observation of this data, it was <br />apparent the installation of the heads chosen to improve the coefficient of uniformity, gallons <br />per minute and fallout patterns, would compliment the head spacing layout already in place. A <br />triangle layout was in place on site, and was good proof the original design and layout was well <br />thought out and professionally designed. <br />The best benefit can be seen through the results of an installation that provided an <br />increase in awareness to myself and others involved in the project. People involved in this <br />process were members of my seasonal staff and a number of community service workers of <br />varied backgrounds. Ofthe seasonal, one in particular has a strong interest in irrigation <br />practices and is considering a future in the related field of irrigation opportunities. During the <br />evaluation of the various zones, this seasonal worker performed the calculations of the catch <br /> <br />. <br />