After the rains…comes the weeds
Back in March, Yuma Proving Ground (YPG) leadership temporarily suspended testing for part of a day due to heavy rains. That downpour flooded roadways that provide access to the installation, caused washes to run leaving debris scattered, and caused some dirt and asphalt roads to concave.
Following that storm, a few more storms showered the YPG area. Since then Shearwater Mission Support (SMS) crews have been dealing with the aftermath. The work first began with repairing damage, and now it’s transitioned into trying to control weeds and brush around the installation.
“The more rain we get, the more weeds pop up,” remarks Gus Luzanilla, SMS grounds lead. SMS grounds crews have been working to get a handle of those pesky weeds: weeding includes pulling the weeds and spraying them with herbicide. “You are never going to get rid of the weeds, but you can control them.”
The weeds and brush are not only unsightly, they cause a multitude of issues. One is giving critters a place to hide. Landscape Specialist Louie Aguilar says that ground crews mow the grass on the playgrounds on the
Howard Cantonment weekly, which helps keeps the children who live in base housing safe. Knowing they are helping brings the crew pride. “It’s kind of like we are giving back.”
That brush can also be a fire hazard when it’s combined with our extreme heat. Removing brush near buildings is another high priority area, says Luzanilla, especially with the triple digit heat already upon us. In fact on May 6 the YPG Meteorology team announced a new record high was set for the day with a temperature of 107, beating the record set in 2018.
Recently on the Kofa Firing Range, ground crews responded to another kind of hazard. “There was a big tree and when drivers were pulling out of the parking lot they couldn’t see north because of the branch,” explains Luzanilla.
Removing hazards such as these are all in a day’s for the SMS ground team. They are also responsible for maintaining the gun positions where test firing occurs. “There are weeds, trees and shrubs that we need to take care of. If we don’t take care of that, then they can’t do their testing.”
YPG’s gun positions are scattered throughout the proving ground which reaches as for north as Quartzite and east near Dateland-- in all approximately 1,300 square miles.
“The military depends on us, too. It doesn’t’ matter that we cut grass. It’s all one circle and we are in that circle at YPG.”