Fresno State excels at saving water

In response to the July 18 letter criticizing Fresno State’s watering practices, please note the university has a special state designation allowing a watering schedule that is unlike residences or businesses.

We don't have enough water supply and pressure available to cover half the campus one night and the other half on another. We spread out irrigation and balance our system based on maintaining water supply and pressure needed to efficiently irrigate the 360-acre core campus.

We have upgraded irrigation controls, hired additional staff to repair and upgrade the miles of irrigation pipes and thousands of sprinklers, added water-retaining materials into acres of lawn and replaced other lawns with landscaping that needs less water. And any water that may reach the gutters is collected and used on the campus farm to irrigate crops.

Fresno State is committed to conservation of our Valley’s precious water supply and has been proactive in exceeding the governor’s reduction requirements. Last year, we reduced consumption by 31%, saving over 112 million gallons of water compared to 2013. Already this year we have reduced consumption 33%, saving 61 million gallons.

This story was originally published July 24, 2016 at 3:43 PM with the headline "Fresno State excels at saving water."