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Sierra Vista - Watching Water Use at the Municipal Complex
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The City of Sierra Vista Municipal Complex encompasses 109 acres. The complex includes the C. Reed Vance Police Station, Sierra Vista City Hall, the Sierra Vista Public Library, the Ethel Berger Center, the Oscar Yrun Community Center, twelve sports fields, and open, undeveloped, natural vegetation. Each of the buildings has manicured landscaping along with other building specific features.
Plants return water to the atmosphere
through transpiration. In this process,
water evaporates from pores in the
plant’s leaves, after being drawn,
along with nutrients, from the root
system through the plant.
(Image by Hailey King, NASA GSFC.)
The City uses water from a city-owned well to maintain all the landscaping and sports fields in the municipal complex. Data indicates that in 2007 water consumption was approximately 92 acre feet of water (299,920,000 gallons). This is a two acre-foot increase over 2006.
Caption: Plants return water to the atmosphere through transpiration. In this process, water evaporates from pores in the plant’s leaves, after being drawn, along with nutrients, from the root system through the plant. (Image by Hailey King, NASA GSFC.)
The City calculates water needs by the transpiration rate in the air, by using a weather station, and then makes recommendation to the amount of water necessary to maintain the playing fields. The increase in water is a result of less rain and humidity. The playing surfaces accommodate over a thousand players each week with the variety of sports played on these fields they must be evaluated daily for their water requirements.
The water pumped from this City well is put to good use. What follows is a brief description of the landscaping and other features that require water for proper maintenance.
Our entire community benefits from the landscaping, sports fields, and other facilities in the municipal complex. As funding and technology allow, future steps will be taken to decrease the amount of water necessary to maintain these important community assets.
Buildings: [open/close] The City facilities located on in the Municipal Complex host thousands of residents and visitors annually, with highest visitation being at the Sierra Vista Public Library, the Ethel Berger Center, and the Oscar Yrun Community Center (OYCC). The OYCC also houses the Sierra Vista Visitor Center, which provides information on local attractions, lodging, and restaurants to visitors and residents alike.
The C. Reed Vance Police Station - Landscaping and an arboretum located in the internal courtyard.
Sierra Vista City Hall - Manicured landscaped area stretching south toward the Police Station and eastward to the Library. City Hall also has mature trees in an arboretum located in the front stairwell of the building. The large grassy area to the south of the entry walkway is designed to both to prevent City Hall from flooding during the rainy season and to make the entryway more visually appealing.
Sierra Vista Public Library - Manicured landscaping, featuring the Sara Gibbs Botanical Garden. The Library's grassy area was designed by the architects to entice people to lounge and read outdoors.
Ethel Berger Center (EBC) - Large grassy area designed to keep water from flooding the building during the rainy season, and a number of mature trees and landscaping.
Oscar Yrun Community Center (OYCC)- Surrounded by mature manicured landscaping, including numerous shrubs and mature trees.
The twelve sport fields: A majority of the fields opened in the 1980s, with now outdated irrigation systems. In the future, the City plans to update the systems creating a water conscious athletic area. The amount of water used each year on the sports fields is directly related to the amount of activity on the field. With high community demand for a limited number of fields, the City's sports fields are heavily used. In some cases, the demand for games and practices prevents the implementation of a proper watering schedule to avoid having the fields be too wet for safe use. Annual maintenance can also be a factor in water use. Top-dressing and over-seeding of fields can require additional watering. The City adjusts the watering schedule during periods of rainfall to decrease or even eliminate irrigation when there is sufficient rain to keep the sports fields in good condition.
| Sports Fields: [open/close] Fields Uses: [open/close] Other field use activities: [open/close] |
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All data reported by the City of Sierra Vista on this website has been provided by the agencies and groups responsible for water management within the Upper San Pedro sub-basin and reviewed by the Upper San Pedro Partnership. All information is consistent with the information provided by those agencies to the USGS for inclusion in the 2008 Section 321 Report to Congress.