Grass gives way to bark in drought test at Modesto park

With tighter water restrictions handed down from the state in this fourth year of drought, the city of Modesto is walking a tightrope between meeting residents’ recreational needs and wisely managing a precious resource.

One way city officials are doing that is by taking a look at how park turf is used and, more important, not used. In a test project at Garrison Park, on Carver Road north of Orangeburg Avenue, roughly a third of an acre of grass is being allowed to die and be covered with bark. Lawn sprinklers are being replaced with drip irrigation for the trees that dot the long, narrow strip of land.

Turf is the biggest use of water in Modesto parks, “and we’re revisiting park design to get away from wall-to-wall turf,” said Chris Orr, operations supervisor with the city’s Parks Operations Services Administration. “This strip (at Garrison Park) doesn’t provide any recreational purpose, and we’re looking at confining turf to recreational play areas.”

Orr was at the park with a California Conservation Corps work crew, which is working with Modesto through “drought response funding” the CCC got from the state to complete water conservation projects around California through June 2016. Modesto’s agreement with the CCC should provide about six to eight weeks of work, enough for Garrison and a couple of other parks, Orr said.

Tuesday morning, the CCC crew was digging a furrow around the area’s perimeter – park walkways on most sides, a chain-link fence on the side bordering Garrison Elementary School. “We’re creating a lip to hold the bark in,” said David Rourk, a conservationist with the CCC. “The bark will cover the drip system. This project will dramatically decrease the use of water, especially wasted water. It’s a lot more efficient.”

Switching from turf sprinklers to drip irrigation for only the trees will save about 3,000 gallons of water a week, Orr said.

He stressed that the Garrison Park work and future projects are not “a knee-jerk reaction to the drought but a planning of long-term turf needs and park aesthetics.”

Orr pointed to another strip of turf that fronts Pearl Street and provides entry to park visitors. “Down the road, we may look at replacing some turf with drought-tolerant groundcover and paths in areas where we need to provide access.”

Turf replacement or other projects have been identified in 28 of the city’s 77 parks, averaging about 1 acre per park, Orr said, with the work done over the long term.

At Kewin Park, off Buena Vista and La Loma Avenue, for example, the city intends to update an antiquated hydraulic watering system. There won’t be any change in the park’s turf, Orr said, but simply converting to an electronic system with sensors will allow the city to manage and monitor water use much more efficiently there.

And in Pike Park, off Kearney and Princeton avenues, the city observed last year that reducing the turf watering was taking its toll on the park’s redwoods, he said. “We’ve lost a couple of the redwoods, and those are assets we can’t replace.” The city will convert one watering station at the park to drip irrigation for the trees so they thrive while turf continues to receive minimal water.

Though the Garrison Park project is considered a test project by the city, the question isn’t whether the change will save water – that much is clear. As with everything, it boils down to money, Orr said. “It’s the cost of materials and the budget,” he said. “We’re saving water but spending more on materials,” pointing out the 85 cubic yards of bark needed just for the Garrison project.

Not just any bark can be used, he said. “This is orchard-type bark. It’s hardwood, so it’s less likely to mold, and it’s disease-free and parasite-free.”

There will be no weed barrier beneath the bark, but it should suffice to suppress weeds, he said, noting that weed growth is less likely with drip irrigation anyway.

“It’s a challenge,” Orr said of keeping parks enjoyable while meeting the water responsibility demanded by the drought. With 77 parks, there’s “a lot of turf,” he said. “We want to maintain that for people.”

After all, who wouldn’t rather play soccer, toss a Frisbee or take a tumble during a football game on grass rather than the asphalt of a neighborhood street?

But it’s a fact that some parks are going to get dustier, Orr said, and “there are just some areas of turf that are not needed.”

This story was originally published May 5, 2015 at 1:04 PM with the headline "Grass gives way to bark in drought test at Modesto park."