WAUKESHA - The salt dome off of Sentry Drive here should still have a lot of salt within. After all, winter isn’t even a month old. But when streets supervisor Joe DeLeon rolls open the big door to the dome, one is astounded at how empty the big structure is. “This has been a couple of rough winters,” DeLeon says with a nod of the head. “Rough.” Waukesha started this winter with 11-hundred tons of road salt. Nearly half of that salt is already gone. So the city is now taking extreme conservation measures. The stuff is only being applied to intersections now. “We actually started mixing sand and salt a little bit earlier this season,” DeLeon says, explaining that the sand/salt mixture isn’t as effective as salt alone. With another unprecedented winter under way, DPW has to make resources last. Salt isn’t the only resource being conserved. Because of budget constraints, the DPW is doing all it can to make aging equipment last. Friday night, as plows roll in off the streets, Craig Rittershaus is on them with an adjustable wrench and an electric arc welder. “I’ll be here until four at least,” Rittershaus says looking up from his work. “Yea, up all night and if they want me to stay later and plow, I’ll go out and plow.” Despite tight budgets, dwindling resources and all-nighters, there is minimal griping in this DPW garage. “You know we just can’t control Mother Nature,” DeLeon says smiling. “Mother Nature is going to do what she’s going to do.”