The lush green lawns on campus are perfect for when students want to take a break and touch some grass. However, there is a complex system that goes into keeping these lawns green and conserving water at the same time.
"So, as far as how the irrigation systems on campus work … we do have a secondary water system that runs off the Provo River. It comes onto campus through a piped canal system," Chris Hull, BYU landscape construction manager, said.
"We filter it and then boost the pressure so we can use it and we use a network of pipes across campus to get it to where it needs to go," Dave Hawks, BYU irrigation lead, said.
With the drought, people may pay more attention to irrigation practices.
"We are in a mega drought and have been for a long time … One of the things that people want to do is, just say, get rid of all the grass and all plants, and that's not smart. There's a lot of reasons why we need plants," Bryan Hopkins, BYU professor and soil scientist, said.
Hopkins said plants help cool urban environments, capture carbon and improve mental and physical health.
"Our biggest user of water is irrigation … There's techniques that we can employ and reduce the amount of water that we're using," Hopkins said.
BYU uses several of these techniques to conserve water.
"The thing I think helps us the most for conserving water is the flow meters that we're installing. With those meters installed, we have the ability to tell the sprinkler controller … how much water a given area of campus should be using," Hawks said.
If an area is using high amounts of water, it will send an alert so that any broken sprinkler heads can be fixed.
Research at BYU also plays a role in making progress on water-efficient irrigation.
"We have been working with hybrid Bermudagrass … we've been doing research, and we've been able to show that it is a very low water user," Hopkins said.
Hopkins said hybrid Bermudagrass can survive over six weeks without irrigation with no negative effects, compared to Kentucky bluegrass, which only lasts about a week.
From the smart irrigation system to the research on sustainable grass, BYU is making progress on water conservation in irrigation.