Utilization of Existing Water Supply The existing campus landscape is irrigated with domestic potable and well water. Currently the campus is served by approximately 23 Points of Connection (POC) for water supply. 12 POC’s are from the city potable water supplied through the building water services. Five POC’s are dedicated potable irrigation taps, and two are Well Pumping Systems. Six areas are identified as “non-irrigated” currently but they are included in the irrigation recommendation. (Refer to Exhibit ‘C’). The Proposed Tap and Area Service Plan, (Exhibit ‘A’), shows the areas to be combined and then supplied by the existing dedicated irrigation taps. This will save money by eliminating the sewage charges included with the use of the build- ing water services. These City of Kearney sewerage charges are currently $1.30 /100cfw and water charges are $1.20/100cfw. This will also maximize the dedi- cated tap supplies, (refer to Exhibit ‘A’).
While systems will be installed and/or replaced in phases as the site develops, site-wide standards should be implemented at each phase to assure uniformity of applica- tion and balance of usage throughout the site.
For pedestrian and vehicle safety and water conservation reasons, to minimize nuisance irrigation water, system head layouts and spray patterns should be designed to minimize over-spray onto paved areas and low head drainage into pedestrian paths and roadways. Drip irrigation should be considered for shrub and perennial planting beds. The most efficient alternatives to conventional spray type irrigation systems should be utilized where appropriate and cost effective.
Zoning should be designed for half the flow or smaller of the designed supply rate for taps 2’’ and larger. The smaller zones will allow for improved scheduling to work at the designed supply rate by running multiple programs simultaneously.
All irrigation systems should be designed to allow for peak season irrigation to occur between the hours of 10:00 PM and 6:00 AM for permanent irrigated areas and 8:00 PM and 6:00 AM for establishment irrigated areas. This will allow for all irrigation to take place when Site activity is minimal and the wind and temperature conditions are optimum for the most efficient application of the irrigation water.
The permanent irrigated area irrigation should be installed below grade following typical irrigation design based on plant material and area. Pressure reducing devices should be incorporated for irrigation requiring less than 70 PSI at the head. These locations shall be calculated based on the elevation and system supply loses.
This reduces the number of building taps used for irrigation from 11 down to 5 and reduces the number of irrigation controllers to monitor and adjust.
The system mainlines should be Class 200 PVC material installed at 24” depth to the top of pipe for 4’’ pipe and less, and 36’’ for pipe 6’’ and larger. The system should be winterized every fall to prevent freezing.
One new 2’’ dedicated irrigation tap is required for the Health Science Education Complex improvements at the west end of campus which are currently unirrigated baseball fields. Utilization of Existing Well Water UNK has two existing irrigation wells on campus located west of the Kearney Ca- nal Tailrace. Pump #1 is located on the Northwest corner of the College of Educa- tion building and is rated at 85 gpm on the well report. Pump #2 is located south of the Communication Center Building and is rated 185 gpm on the well report. Pump #1(POC #11) is proposed to continue to irrigate its current area. This requires a 7 day, 12 hour weekly watering window, it is the only area that can- not use the recommended 6 day, 8 hour water window because to do so would require the addition of a 1.5’’ dedicated water source. Pump #2 (POC #13) will be reused to irrigate its current irrigated area as well as the remainder of “West Park” and West Heating Plant site. About one half of the area proposed for Pump #2 is not currently irrigated. To improve safety, efficiency, and function, both pumps must be upgraded with VFD (Variable Frequency Drive) controller panels, flow sensing and filtration with automatic flushing. Recommendations and Design Standards Hydrosystems-KDI recommends installing new separate irrigation systems cam- pus wide based on the area and capacities listed by tap on the Proposed Tap and Service Area Plan. Each can be implemented as budgets and campus renovations schedules allow. Construction documents should include an irrigation design that includes a completed scaled plan with equipment schedule, construction notes, approved equipment installation details, and specifications. A Landscape Architect licensed in the State of Nebraska should stamp all irrigation drawings. Irrigation system design should be standardized to allow for future areas to be added. Design standards should include “non-potable” markings on all equipment served by non-potable sources that can be accessed by the public. Per professional irrigation standards, all areas that are designated for food/eating activities (i.e. food courts and large gathering spaces) should be irrigated with a potable water system. A buffer zone of 50 feet should be provided between these types of areas and the non-potable irrigation systems.
An outline set of irrigation construction specifications and recommended irrigation installation details are submitted under separate cover. These should be adjusted as needed to meet the local area codes and campus requirements and included in all future campus construction projects to standardize the campus irrigation systems and minimize inventory needs.
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Chroma Design Inc.
University of Nebraska - Kearney Campus Landscape Master Plan
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