Washington Park's dry grass looks dead. And Denverite readers have been raising concerns that Denver Parks and Recreation is failing to water.
This worry is particularly unsettling to neighbors gearing up to celebrate Wash Park's 125th anniversary.
"Please find out why Denver Parks has not fixed its water pump and hasn’t watered the grass all summer," wrote Denverite reader Linda Hardesty. "How could it be so irresponsible?"
Denverite reached out to Denver Parks and Recreation to understand Washington Park's dry grass.
What's going on?
Many parks have a pump house, explained Scott Gilmore, the deputy executive director of Denver Parks and Recreation. Water comes into the park's lake through a canal. A pump takes the water and pushes it through the entire irrigation system.
At Washington Park, the pump that takes water from Smith Lake to irrigate the entire 165 acre park was down for weeks.
The city's irrigation systems are older. The department struggles constantly to keep them working effectively. As Washington Park, water from canals and lakes has sediment in it. That sediment is filtered out, and the process puts stress on the pump.
"The pump in that pump house blew up, basically." Gilmore said. "It failed."
And it's taken the parks department several weeks to get the parts to fix it. Meanwhile, the hot days have taken a toll on the grass.
The 70-some irrigation zones at Washington Park are normally watered, from the pump, 15 to 20 zones at a time.
While the department waited for the parts to arrive, workers hand-watered the park two to three zones at a time. That's nowhere near the level required to keep the grass green.
The department even hooked a water cannon to a hydrant to reach broader sections of the park.
Even so, over the past few weeks, watering has been down to 10 percent of the norm.
"So, of course, because of the limitations of getting that amount of water out in a 24 hour period, there were some sections of the park that that browned up," Gilmore said.
Good news: The future is looking wetter at Wash Park.
The parts came in. The water pump is now working. And the parks department is back to watering the grass 20 to 30 zones at a time.
Happily the grass is not dead. It's just dormant, Gilmore said. Finally watered, the grass just has to do its thing.
How long till the park looks alive again?
"It will take a little bit of time," Gilmore said. "It usually takes two to three weeks for a park to green up after this type of situation."
If the department is lucky, the park will be green again in time for Washington Park's big 125th anniversary celebration.
On Aug. 7, Friends and Neighbors of Washington Park and the parks department will be hosting a jubilee from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Denverites will enjoy a walk led by the South High School Drum Line, sports clinics, historical displays, food trucks and live music.
A drone photographer will shoot a Wash Park family photo. The hope is the grass is green for that bird's eye view.
"Wash Park's 125 anniversary is coming up here in a week," Gilmore said. "So we want to make sure the park looks nice. It's an iconic park. It's one of the busiest parks in the state. And so you know, we want to make sure it looks beautiful for this celebration."
