SPOKANE, Wash – Earlier this week, the City of Spokane announced a level two drought response, asking people to limit watering and to keep from using water to clean hardscapes like driveways, decks and patios.
So, why are sprinklers and the Rotary Fountain turned on in the middle of the day in Riverfront Park?
That was the case Friday around noon, as sprinklers doused the grass just north of the Howard Street bridge. Down the sidewalk a bit, people gathered to cool off in the constant stream of water in the fountain.
We asked the City of Spokane: are the rules different for the city?
First, why the drought response?
Let’s back up a bit and explain how we got here.
The city’s water conservation ordinance, passed in 2022, puts certain measures in place to conserve water.
Between June and October, the ordinance calls for a prohibition on watering outdoor vegetation between 10 am and 6 pm.
The city asks that people don’t water the same parcel more than four days a week and limit watering to two hours per day on each parcel.
Finally, the city wants people to refrain from watering hardscapes like driveways, sidewalks and patios.
Things go up a notch when Spokane River levels drop to a certain level, triggering a level two response.
The same provisions as above are still in place, except the city asks that people limit watering to two days per week.
That happened this week, when river levels dropped below 1,000 cubic feet per second.
So, why doesn’t the city follow these guidelines?
There are exemptions built into the ordinance, specifically pertaining to city parks.
The exemption says: “The department shall be exempt from these measures when the Parks Director informs City Council in writing that an exemption is necessary for the purposes of watering trees, watering the remaining parks with non-automated irrigation systems, allowing for the establishment of newly-planted landscape, mitigating fire risk in wildland-urban interface areas, operating pools and splashpads, and operating public golf courses/sports program facilities.”
4 News Now specifically asked the city about the sprinklers and fountain operating on Friday.
City of Spokane Public Works Director Marlene Feist said “Parks endeavors to meet all the City’s water conservation rules and changes its operations when we reach this threshold in the summer. Its watering is increasingly more efficient over time.”
Feist did point out that the fountain and neighborhood splash pads recirculate their water.
She also said the ordinance allows for watering in areas that are being established or under repair.
“After Hoopfest and the Fourth of July, there are always areas of grass that need to be reestablished because of the beating they take from the hordes of visitors.”
“Parks are our community green spaces so Council recognized that,” Feist said.
Feist also pointed out other measures the Parks Department has taken in recent years to make water use more efficient, including new irrigation systems at city golf courses, an update to the Koi Pond at Manito and the replacement of some turf with what the city calls “SpokaneScape” landscaping in some locations.
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