Yes. Metro District staff works diligently to meet or come in under the allotted 27-inch, system-wide water budget each year. We are also subject to the same upper tier rates as all other water customers.

Stage 1 drought restrictions were put into place April 1, 2026, and the Metro District will adapt its practices to reduce overall water use and cut outdoor irrigation consumption by 15-20%.

We strive to water as efficiently as possible after precipitation, however many factors are involved. In our parkway system alone, we have more than 30,000 sprinkler heads and upwards of a hundred sprinkler controllers that are operated by one automated, central irrigation system.

Our system collects data from weather stations and is programmed to automatically shut down upon receiving .15-.20 inches of rain. That might explain why you sometimes observe sprinkler zones operating during or after a small/brief rainstorm. When we do reach the .15-.20" threshold, it can sometimes take a few hours before each and every controller receives the command to shut down. Rain totals, within the same storm, can vary widely throughout the community and some controllers may get shut down while others do not depending on how much rain the individual weather stations received.

Wetting down the infields is an important part of our ballfield preparation routine to make the fields as level and safe as possible. Our staff periodically turns on the sprinklers before they groom the fields and are on-site to ensure water is used appropriately.