CBS Investigates TxDOT's Water Waste

DALLAS (CBS 11 News) ― Tx-DOT has been running sprinklers on a small area of grass along the southbound access road of North Central Expressway in North Dallas.

The problem is the sprinklers also dump a lot of water onto the street, soaking cars as they drove by.

Witnesses say they saw the sprinklers on every morning for three weeks even while it was raining.

TxDOT said it only found out about the problem when we told them. They went back to the contractor it hired to manage the sprinklers.

"We believe the contractor has been looking for a leak. The system has been offline, which means it's been running for more than we like, but it's the only way they can find the leak," said Randy Black, TxDOT spokesman.

When the system is off, the rain sensor stops working and goes back to its original program. In this case, it means the system has been watering the grass for an hour everyday, seven days a week.

TxDOT has a computer system that tracks the sprinklers' use, but its memory only lasts seven days.

"We have to conserve it and watch out for it," he said.

TxDOT would not release the name of the sprinkler contractor.

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Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• txdot
• texas
• roads
• toll
• water
• conservation
• environment
• waste
• tax
• dollars
• government
• rick
• perry
• money
• tolls
• department

[sonofaglitch2]

That contractor isn't BlackWATER is it? Rimshot! Thanks, folks, I'll be here all night.