You paid for it! The City of Milwaukee sends precious resources, literally, down the drain, and it's been going on for years.

On a drive down Humboldt Blvd. in Milwaukee last month, we saw sprinklers --on full blast-- watering medians the morning after we got five inches of rain.

"It seems kind of stupid," said Milwaukee taxpayer Diane Collins.

Turns out, the city sprinklers weren't just watering these beds, but also the road and passing cars.

"It's just one more thing to make us angry," Collins sighed.

And it seems to happen all over town. Riverwest resident Lori Kuschinski told us she sees it all the time.

"I think that it's a waste of water and resources that shouldn't be wasted," Kuschinski said.

A lot of water does get wasted along the 120 miles of irrigated boulevard kept up by the Milwaukee Department of Public Works. And while most of the beds are certainly beautiful and worth having, even DPW knows there's a problem with the watering schedule.

"It leads people to [ask], what the hell is going on," admitted Preston Cole, DPW's Environmental Services Superintendent.

When the I-Team asked Cole essentially the same question, he told us:

"The cool thing is that we're upgrading that system, so your timing is perfect."

Over the next three years, taxpayers will shell out $1.5 million for those upgrades. By the time the work is done, nearly every boulevard flower bed will have a drip-irrigation system which soaks instead of sprays. Since they're on timers, they'll use significantly less water.

Part of the plan also calls for ripping out old flower beds while expanding others. Some will even get rain gauges -- no more watering when it's already wet.

"The long run is saving money, saving time and certainly saving water," Cole said.

Department officials also told us sometimes crews do end up watering new flowers the day or day after a big rain.

Still, if you see city sprinklers on when you think they shouldn't be on, call Milwaukee DPW at 286-CITY (2489).