Fresno State Overcomes Irrigation Challenges and Creates Water Savings on Compacted Turf Areas – Maple Mall
Challenges
Maple Mall North is a key event venue at Fresno State, and home to an annual celebration called Vintage Days that hosts up to 50,000 visitors over a 3 day period. Historically, irrigation was shut off prior to, and during this event, leaving the turf more susceptible to damage from extreme foot traffic. The challenge was to assure the turf was receiving the required water & nourishment while working to minimize damage from foot traffic.
The secondary goal was to reduce water use by 35%-50% based on Aqua Cents® ability to absorb, store and release water over sustained periods.
Solution
The 94,000 sq. ft. venue was treated with Aqua Cents® hydrogel 2 weeks prior to the 2014 Vintage Days event. Rather than waiting months for the turf to rebound, the turf was able to access stored water from the hydrogels, while keeping the surface area drier and successfully eliminating damage from foot traffic during the event.
Results
Eliminated damage from foot traffic during Vintage Days 2014, a 3-day event hosting over 50,000
Keep turf drier at the surface while assuring water and nourishment at the root zone from the Aqua Cents® hydrogel treatment.
Key Benefits
Positioned to achieve 35%-50% water savings for a sustained period or 5-7 years due to the ability of repeated water absorption and release.
“Though Fresno State pumps and maintains its own water system, the university is committed to preserving natural resources. We are pursuing an aggressive Water Conservation Plan aimed at reducing campus water usage by 20%, or 59.8 million gallons a year, in the next year.
We have partnered with Aqua Cents Water Management to trial its injections of organic hydrogels below turf in certain areas of the campus that require a lot of water. We are using Aqua Cents in the Maple Mall event venue to prepare for heavy foot traffic during the university’s Vintage Days spring festival. We also utilized Aqua Cents Water Management on the 10,125 sq ft of turf at the University President’s Residence where we host a number of events and have similar challenges.
Aqua Cents is intended to improve absorption of water and nutrients, reducing the amount and frequency of water and fertilizer. It’s a matter of teaching our lawns to drink differently.”
Bob Boyd
Associate VP, Facilities Management Fresno State
April 2014