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FARMINGTON — It's no secret that the Beehive State is in a significant drought and with a less-than-ideal end to the winter months, the state is on pace for one of its driest years in recorded history.
Despite the grim outlook, there are still pillars of hope that can be found through individuals, organizations and agencies taking steps to address the dry conditions, with the latest blow in the fight against the drought being dealt by Davis School District.
Last year, the district cut water use by 60% at Farmington High School and now, outdoor crews are planning to take the lessons and skills they've learned at that school and apply them across all district properties with a goal of cutting its outdoor water use in half, the district announced Wednesday.
To accomplish this, outdoor grounds crews are taking steps to permanently conserve water by installing drought-tolerant lawns and landscaping with customized irrigation at nearly 100 district properties.
What exactly is a drought-tolerant-lawn?
Davis School District outdoor division coordinator Jeff Olsen said it's a type of grass called Kentucky 31, a seed that first came to the U.S. from Europe in the 1800s and "only has to be mowed once a year."
"It requires less water and we can actually water it maybe once a month," Olsen said. "It grows to a certain height and doesn't even really need to be cut and doesn't require a lot of fertilization to keep it looking green."
Additionally, the district said it is closely monitoring soil moisture levels and will only water lawn sections once per week, as required by the Weber Basin Water Conservancy District.
Olsen said it's important for the public to understand that tall grass isn't a sign that the grounds crews aren't paying attention to it, but it's supposed to look how it does.
"People are going to see our grass is going to look pretty tall. We are not going to cut any lower than four inches," Olsen said. "The taller the grass is, the healthier it is going to look, and the healthier it will try to keep it and it is going to shade the root system and we shouldn't lose so much water to evaporation."
The district is pairing this grass with a new irrigation "smart clock system" that nearly all schools have been updated with.
This clock, Olsen said, works with weather stations to look at forecasts and current weather. This means that if it were to be raining, the system would go into a rain delay and not waste precious water resources.
It's also convenient to use.
"We can sit at our home and access these clocks, we don't have to be on-site to do them," Olsen said. "We can turn stations off, we can turn stations on."
He also pointed out that the public might see water running at a district property for multiple nights — that doesn't mean the district isn't following the same county watering guidelines that residents are.
"It may have a different appearance than what it does at your home because at your home you might have 7 to 12 stations," Olsen said. "At a typical school, I'm running anywhere from 50 stations to 115 stations. I cannot water all those stations in one night."
Olsen sounded optimistic when speaking about the future of water conservation and low-maintenance grounds in the Davis School District.
"We're thinking outside the box for the future, for some of our projects that we're installing," Olsen said. "Something that doesn't need to be maintained as much, we don't have to put all the money into keeping green-looking grass."
