COLORADO SPRINGS, COLO. -- An early warm-up has city park officials keeping an eye on the grass and the budget.
Colorado Springs dry winter weather has grass brittle and in need of some moisture.
Luckily the 2012 budget is the same as it was last year at $8.5 million which means the city will be watering, mowing and maintaining more than 155 parks.
The list of park includes Acacia Park and American the Beautiful.
Colorado Springs mom Claire White said, "It's our favorite, we're here whenever I have a day off, and [my daughter] really enjoys it."
The city has dedicated $2.4 million to watering the parks, money that will be budgeted.
The spring-like weather has the parks & recreation department watering early at Memorial Park and the El Pomar Youth Sports Complex.
"The mayor, when he was elected, provided some additional money for our seeding, so we could bring some of the parks back. We made great progress and don't want to take a step backwards," Kurt Schroeder, Park Operations & Development Officer, said.
But warm weather and 60 degree temperatures have triggered the grass to come out of it's dormant phase.
So, with some parks already sprouting out green grass, watering is key.
The department will make a decision next week on whether to start watering several other parks to make sure the moisture content stays, and the grass doesn't die.