Watering during the day is something most gardeners avoid, but in Jasper watering at night sometimes isn’t feasible. 

The Municipality of Jasper’s infrastructure manager Don Pickle said the town uses a combination of manual and automatic sprinkler systems, and both have their ups and downs. 

Within Jasper, larger areas such as Lions and Robson Park are on an automated sprinkler system that pumps water onto the area at night, between 3 p.m. and 6 a.m.

The manual sprinklers are turned on from 7 a.m. when the municipal crew begins their shift. They tour the city in a route, turning on sprinkler systems in some areas, while monitoring them and shutting off others. Pickle said the sprinklers are not turned on and allowed to run all day. Areas with manual watering systems include the town’s boulevards, the library, the dog park, Patricia Circle and the Old Fire Hall.

While concern has been raised about the water evaporating off during the heat of the day, Pickle said they have to work with what they have. 

“It’s really just a balance between fiscal responsibility and available resources,” he said. 

That means they have installed automated watering systems where they can, and use the manual systems in areas that are better served by a town employee’s monitoring. 

“When and where we have the ability to automate we do,” Pickle said. 

Many people in town notice the water running down the road when the Connaught drive sprinklers are on, but Pickle said it is all part of the watering process. 

“It’s very obvious when you drive down Connaught and the sprinklers are on,” he said, likening it to watering at home when your sidewalk gets wet. The town is aware of areas where the runoff occurs, and staff keep an eye on the progress of each bed they are watering as they move along their route. 

The recent construction in the middle of Connaught Drive has seen some changes to the vegetation. Pickle said they have moved to plants that need less water. He expects the plants to take up less resources once they are established in the new beds. 

“That was a real conscious effort on our part to get drought resistant plants,” Pickle said. The list of plants that were available was trimmed by Parks Canada, which has a specific list of vegetation that is allowed within the park’s boundaries. The biggest goal was to try to choose plants from the list that were low maintenance in the long run. 

“They’ll just take care of themselves,” Pickle said. 

In the first phase of upgrades to Connaught Drive, the automated sprinkler systems were removed from the first few beds. It was determined the sprinklers were good to keep around in case of a dry season. Pickle said the next beds being renovated will have systems that can be shut off for long periods of time, and re-filled when they are needed. The hope is that the systems will only be needed until the plants are established and during droughts thereafter. 

Animals had to be taken into consideration during the Connaught renovations as well. Pickle said they tried to pick plants elk don’t enjoy as much, but with the small list of allowed plants in the park, they still might be interested in the tasty greens along the main street. 

To combat the travelling elk herd, the town will continue with temporary fencing when elk herds are most likely to travel through the town, until the plants grow more. 

“Once the vegetation is established we won’t proceed with fencing,” Pickle said. 

Another way the town tries to conserve water is by watering only individual plants that need it. A hose system on Connaught Drive will be in place so that singular plants can get their water without wasting it on others in the bed. 

Pickle said the automated watering in larger greenspaces in town has its downside too, particularly when it rains. 

“The downside of night watering is if it’s raining you don’t have the ability to shut them off,” he said. “Someone would have to wake up in the middle of the night and go, ‘Oh. It’s raining.’”

That situation can lead to a lot of angry residents wondering why the town is wasting water during rainy periods. 

“It’s just a downside of automation.”