Irrigation controls in Mammoth Hot Springs Historic District

Sprinklers shower the lawn next to the Administration Building in Mammoth Hot Springs.

NPS

The historic lawns of Mammoth Hot Springs, 37 acres total, have been irrigated since they were planted by the US Cavalry in 1902.

In 2012, Mammoth Hot Springs’ irrigation controllers were upgraded to new “smart” controllers. The new controllers record all irrigation activity, share weather data between controllers, and alert the operator to leaks in the lines as well as other problems. As controllers have been installed, irrigation zones have been analyzed and categorized into groups based on water needs (e.g. areas in the sun) so that watering can be tailored to each area. Flow monitoring by the controllers has already alerted the irrigation operator to a leak, allowing quick detection and repair.

The new controllers automatically adjust irrigation to weather, reducing runtimes, and saving water while maintaining high grass quality in this historic landscape. Old controllers run times have been evaluated and reduced manually, and new water-saving irrigation strategies have already reduced water use in the system. Full implementation of the system is expected to achieve around 30 percent reduction in water use for irrigation—saving approximately 3.5 million gallons of water per year.