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Water the Parks: A Municipal Irrigation Mandate
WATER THE BLOODY PARKS!! Edit: WOW, people enjoy seeing seeing parks and other green spaces dry up, thinks it will cost a fortune and still think it is raining quite frequently. You're all delusional.
This mandate is essential for environmental justice — low-income neighborhoods already have fewer green spaces and can't afford to lose them to drought. In my city, parks in underserved areas are the first to brown out, and that's unacceptable.
Smart irrigation pays for itself within three years through water savings and reduced restoration costs — that's the only metric that matters. Without a dedicated budget line, this will just be another unfunded mandate.
Los Angeles proved this works: after installing smart controllers in 2014, they cut park water use by 30% while keeping grass green.
Who pays for the upfront installation of sensors and controllers? This sounds like a capital expense that will be passed to residents through higher fees. And what happens during a severe drought when reclaimed water is also limited?
We can agree on the goal of green parks and water conservation — smart irrigation is the compromise that delivers both without forcing a false choice.