Parks and water staff told Peoria City Council on Jan. 13 that a Water Infrastructure Finance Authority (WIFA) grant, combined with city matching funds and a USDA tree grant, funded a neighborhood-parks turf-remediation and irrigation-upgrade program affecting 19 parks across all six council districts.

"We had about $2,500,000 received. We had a city match of 630,000," said Chris Calcaterra, Parks and Recreation director, describing the WIFA grant and accompanying local match. Staff said an additional USDA tree grant required no match and that the total program amounted to $3,300,000.

Staff described a multi-year effort that began with irrigation and turf studies of park fields and programmable/non-programmable turf, followed by design, contractor coordination and resident outreach. Dan Bachman, parks and facilities manager, said construction began in February 2025 and the project completed in October 2025, exceeding early goals: the original target was 25 acres at 12 parks by a later date, but staff reported converting 45 acres at 19 parks by October 2025.

Project outputs reported to council included planting 815 trees, installing 18,570 tons of landscape rock, and reducing irrigation heads at the 19 parks from 6,451 to 4,044 — a reduction of 2,407 heads, or 37 percent. Calcaterra and Bachman presented water-consumption metrics showing the 19 parks used about 120,000,000 gallons in 2023, 105,000,000 gallons in 2024 and 66,000,000 gallons in 2025; staff said that represents a total savings of about 46,500,000 gallons compared with the 2023–24 average and a 39,000,000 gallon year-over-year reduction.

Staff estimated ongoing operational savings of roughly $120,000 per year in water costs and about $30,000 per year in reduced mowing expenses. Next steps include designing the remaining park inventory, installing flow sensors and master valves to detect major leaks or vandalism, and refining irrigation schedules using real-time evapotranspiration data and improved software.

Council members asked follow-up questions during the presentation; staff said they had engaged residents through mailings, signage and a project hotline and had coordinated with the Parks and Recreation Board throughout the process. There was no formal council action required at the presentation.