SportsTurf provides current, practical and technical content on issues relevant to sports turf managers, including facilities managers. Most readers are athletic field managers from the professional level through parks and recreation, universities.
Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/69161
>> Top left: NETAFIM DISTRICT SALES MAN- AGER KELLY KEICHER (LEFT) and project land- scape architect Doug Rockne (right) review turf conditions during the dry summer months. >> Bottom left: PEAKVIEW PARK NORTH is one of a series of community parks that comprise the 12.5-square mile Arapahoe Park and Rec District, just south of Denver. >> Bottom Right: THE ARAPAHOE PARK AND REC DISTRICT has 100 acres of developed parks, including playgrounds alongside the sports fields. of open space, 14 miles of trails, 75,000 square-foot recreation center, gym, indoor skate park, and a multi-plex of natural turf sports fields. "There's a reason Colorado is one of the healthiest states. Everyone's outdoors play- ing sports," said the field designer. Over the past 6 years, the district has in- stalled Netafim Techline CV dripline on three baseball fields, two softball fields, one football field, four soccer fields (two as large as three acres) and several multi-use fields. By specifying dripline systems, the planning team was able to maximize water use while minimizing costs. "Our challenges included both fiscally- sound start-up costs and responsible man- agement of water use per acre," said Rockne. "Dripline has helped us achieve those goals and the District has always been able to operate in the black." WATER DIRECTLY TO THE ROOTZONES drop. However, in this High Plains region where rivers are born, ground water is scarce. Lifeline water taps (the right to con- nect to water mains) and monthly water costs are pricey. Rockne started working on this massive recreational project in the 1980s. He devel- oped the District's original master plan and continues to function as lead designer and advisor to the board of directors. From the beginning, he knew he had to approach the site's water use with innovative thinking. "With the Rockies nearby, you'd think we'd have plenty of water. But this is a semi-arid desert environment. We're at 6,000-foot elevation with 15 inches of pre- cipitation a year, and heavy clay saline soils. "A couple of our first fields were in- stalled with traditional overhead sprinklers, but all the rest are dripline." This high-use recreation area was de- signed to serve the fast-growing communi- ties outside Denver and demand for sports fields grew exponentially during the hous- ing boom. "Local communities were clamoring for fields for all ages, all genders, all sports, and they are typically booked solid from March through November," said Rockne. Today the Arapahoe complex is nearly 90% built out and has an envy of ameni- ties: 100 acres of developed parks, 500 acres water directly to the rootzones without wasting a drop," said Kelly Keicher, Netafim district sales manager for Col- orado. "This area has low humidity and dry mountain air. Overhead irrigation loses too much water to evaporation and wind drift in these conditions. "We've shown that dripline is 90% effi- cient when compared to overhead irriga- tion, which is generally around 60% efficient," said Keicher. The Arapahoe District management re- cently conducted a comparison of monthly water costs between a sports field with dripline and an older sports field with over- "Dripline delivers a precise amount of www.stma.org SportsTurf 31