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Southern Nevada’s Cash-for-Grass Lawn Replacement Program
Exceeds Annual Water Savings of 5 Billion Gallons
LAS VEGAS – The Southern Nevada Water Authority’s (SNWA) Water Smart Landscapes program, which provides cash rebates for residents and businesses that replace grass with drought-tolerant landscaping, has surpassed more than 5 billion gallons saved annually since its inception in 1999.
More than 24,000 homes and businesses have participated in the program, replacing 90 million square feet of grass. Qualifying residential and commercial customers receive $2 for each square-foot (up to 1,500 square feet) of grass they replace with water-efficient plants and shrubs. The SNWA based its estimated annual savings on a multi-year study.
Water Smart Landscapes is one of several aggressive SNWA campaigns that have enabled Southern Nevada to decrease its water consumption by 18 billion gallons between 2002 and 2006 – despite several years of drought and the addition of about 330,000 new residents and nearly 40 million annual visitors.
“How we grow as a community has a tremendous impact on our water resource needs,” said SNWA General Manager Pat Mulroy. “The so-called ‘Manhattanization’ of Las Vegas, with numerous high-rise condominiums under construction, is the best possible form of development from a water efficiency perspective. Like resorts, these buildings use most of their water indoors, limiting consumptive uses to central air conditioning systems, community swimming pools and small patches of landscaping.”
At the same time, single-family homes have improved their water efficiency through Water Smart Landscapes and strict municipal landscaping codes limiting the amount of grass permitted in residential yards. This ultimately reduces each home’s consumptive draw on the community’s water supply.
Other SNWA conservation programs stress compliance with mandatory watering schedules and implementing water-efficient technologies for businesses. For more information on Water Smart programs, visit snwa.com.
The SNWA is a regional agency that manages water conservation, water quality and water resources. Member agencies are Big Bend Water District (Laughlin), the cities of Las Vegas, North Las Vegas, Henderson and Boulder City, the Clark County Water Reclamation District and the Las Vegas Valley Water District.
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