"As we are being asked to reduce our use of water due to the drought, it seems that the new Gilroy high school must be exempt. But watering a drainage canal full of weeds is far beyond anyone's comprehension. Not only that, but to do it at 5:30 in the afternoon, when the wind is blowing it's hardest, does not make any sense. The picture shows the water blowing out on Santa Teresa (Boulevard) between Day Road west and Day Road east. The cars were crossing the double yellow lines to miss the spray. Should there be someone in charge to make sure the water saved by the local residences is not wasted in drainage canals or streets by the school district? What happened to watering lawns in early morning hours to prevent evaporation and waste? Why were the sprinklers ever installed to water a canal? Who is in control at the new school and what are they thinking?"
Dear Water Watchdog,
Now we know where to go to get a free car wash. Too bad it looks like we have to go by twice to get the job done. Actually, this should only be a temporary solution until the new school is built.
"The drainage area had to have erosion control to comply with state and environmental law," said Enrique Palacios, the district's deputy superintendent of business services. "There was a temporary irrigation system installed to get the erosion control mix to grow prior (to) heavy rains that did not materialize. The temporary irrigation will be removed soon."
The sprinklers are scheduled to run between 9 p.m. and 6 a.m., but because they run off of a temporary power source at the Christopher High School construction site that often fails, the clocks automatically get reset to 12 p.m., Palacios said.
"Temporary power on construction sites has frequent interruptions. These power interruptions play havoc with the electronic programming that runs dozens of watering stations. Watering off schedule causes other related problems. There is the requisite drying time prior to mowing to avoid rutting. So then mowing off schedule causes the need to water off schedule after mowing to try and get back on schedule," Palacios said. "The District concurs with and shares the desire to reduce water use whenever possible."
Dispatch Staff You can submit news items to City Editor Christopher Quirk by faxing them to 842-2206, mailing them to Gilroy Dispatch, 6400 Monterey Road, Gilroy, CA 95020, or e-mailing editor@garlic.com.
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