While the irrigation system on the Parade Ground has operated for approximately a year, students may notice it this semester because of its newly extended hours.
Last year, the sprinklers only operated from 9 p.m. until 5 a.m. or 6 a.m. However, the Parade Ground upgrade, which happened over the summer, made it necessary for the sprinklers to run more extensively to allow the new turf to grow in, said Assistant Director of Landscape Services Fred Fellner.
English junior Garrett Baringer, who spends most mornings on the Parade Ground for ultimate frisbee practice, said while practice has not been delayed because of the sprinklers, they can pose a personal inconvenience.
“Since you don’t know when they’re coming on, yeah, you can get caught by them randomly as I have been,” Baringer said.
While Landscape Services tries to operate the sprinklers as often as possible to help set the new turf, factors like rainfall are taken into account when determining when to run the irrigation system.
The irrigation system was installed over the course of three years and completed in 2014. The system was installed for the upkeep of the area, Fellner said.
“The [Parade Ground is] really an icon of LSU, and [it was] woefully under-maintained,” Fellner said. “I like to joke that when I first came here, the Parade Ground was 70 percent weeds and 30 percent dirt.”
During the summer, sand, sod and grass were harvested from two LSU football practice fields and laser-leveled on the Parade Ground. The leveling was done with a GPS system, making the field perfectly flat with a drainage system running south, Fellner said.
It is important for the Parade Ground to have a good turf to prevent erosion, Fellner said.
“Erosion on campus is one of the main problems that we have,” he said.
Fellner said the campus lake is filled with soil because of run-off from Highland Road and previously from the Parade Ground. The irrigation system will allow the turf to set in and prevent nonpoint source pollution, indirectly caused water pollution.
Fellner, who started working in landscape services in 1995, said this is the first proper irrigation system operating during his time here.
The system is set on a clock with the Parade Ground divided into timed zones three to four zones are watered at a time on three-to-four minute intervals.
The system is automated and programmable, allowing the sprinklers to be controlled from devices like iPhones or iPads, Fellner said. From the device, water usage can be monitored and the times and zones can be modified.
The precise control of the sprinklers prevents water from being wasted, Fellner said.
“The tighter we can control the irrigation system, then the least amount of water and greatest effectiveness we [have],” he said.
Mathematics senior Amanda Mayhall said she thinks the sprinklers are necessary to compensate for damage done during football season.
“We beat up the Parade Ground pretty badly on gamedays with tailgating and stuff like that, so they need all the water they can get,” Mayhall said.