Atwater High reports 40 percent in water conservation

Atwater High School is meeting its goals for water conservation despite being allowed to water playing surfaces five days per week, a school official told City Council this week.

Athletic Director Roddy Svendsen said on Monday the school’s water use is down by 40 percent through August. In the last two months, he said, the school has used 75 percent less water than in 2013, the year the state is using as a baseline for conservation efforts.

The school has about 40 acres of playing field that it waters five days a week for 20 minutes per day, he said. Though homeowners in Merced are allowed two days per week for sprinkling, the high schools in town were given permission to water five days.

“We were never asking to use more water,” Svendsen said. “If there was a misunderstanding in that perspective, then that’s on us and I apologize for that.”

School officials have said maintaining the fields is a safety issue for athletes. They also said that the size of the campuses makes them too difficult to water properly within two days a week.

Svendsen said the fields are used during the days by the school and by the community in the evenings. The decorative parts of the campus are sprinkled two days a week, he said, and the school has switched to more efficient sprinkler nozzles.

The school “let go” of one field, which gets no water at all, he said. The sprinklers used to cool the turf fields in the football stadium are no longer being used.

In August, with a 3-2 vote, the council approved the Merced Union High School District’s appeal asking to be able to water more than other consumers. Mayor Jim Price and Councilman James Vineyard cast the dissenting votes.

This week, Price said he still questioned whether the school was doing enough. He said the maintenance crew at the school should be able to maintain the fields while watering just twice per week.

He noted the elementary schools water twice per week.

Giving the high schools an exemption has upset some residents, he said. “It’s hard to ask for cooperation from the community for two days a week, when they know the high schools are at five,” he said.

Atwater has been mandated by the state to reduce water use by 36 percent, but has reduced it by only 24.1 percent, according to the latest numbers from the state.

The city of Atwater has distributed 583 violation notices to homeowners since the new rules for watering went into effect, according to Councilman James Vineyard. About 62 percent of those were issued to people watering on a day they were not allowed

Councilman Brian Raymond said the school is doing its part to conserve water. “Given what you guys have to work with, you’re doing an exceptional job,” he said during the meeting.

This story was originally published September 15, 2015 at 2:23 PM with the headline "Atwater High reports 40 percent in water conservation."