The lack of water tank equipment for park staff to adequately water newly transplanted plants has been a long-time challenge. The revegetation crew waters plant material by hand and often plants never get supplemental water or even an adequate amount of water, and thus rely solely on weather conditions, often to the detriment of the plantings. Hand-watering is expensive, inefficient, and results in lower-than-expected success of new plantings establishing successfully.
At the present time, the park either pays the Federal Highways contractor to water the transplants or must rent equipment on a daily basis to ensure the new transplants are adequately watered so they have a better chance to successfully establish.
This project will eliminate the need for future contracts with outside entities and expensive daily rentals of large-capacity water tanks to ensure newly transplanted vegetation is watered. The equipment purchased will provide park staff the ability to both water transplants and save money in the long term.
