Las Vegas seeks ornamental grass ban to save water

LAS VEGAS – A desert city built on a reputation for excess and indulgence wants to become a model for restraint and conservation with a first-in-thenation policy banning grass on which no one walks on.

Las Vegas-area water officials have spent two decades trying to get people to replace thirsty greenery with desert plants, and now they’re asking the Nevada Legislature to outlaw roughly 40% of the turf that’s left.

The Southern Nevada Water Authority estimated there are almost 8 square miles of “nonfunctional turf ” in the metro area – grass that no one walks on or otherwise uses in street medians, housing developments and office parks.

They said the ornamental grass requires four times as much water as drought-tolerant landscaping like cactus and other succulents. By ripping it out, they estimated the region can reduce annual water consumption by roughly 15% and save about 14 gallons per person per day.

Las Vegas might

be

known

for splashy displays like the Bellagio fountains on the neon-lit Strip, but officials said residents of bedroom communities and sprawling suburbs embrace conservation measures, including aggressive monitoring of sprinklers and leaky irrigation systems.

“The public perception outside of Las Vegas is certainly much different – and has been for a long time – than the water conservation ethic within the community,” said Colby Pellegrino, Southern Nevada Water Authority water resources director.

California imposed a temporary ban on watering ornamental grass during last decade’s drought, but no state or major city has tried to phase out certain categories of grass permanently.

“The scale of this is pretty unprecedented in terms of a full ban on this nonfunctional turf,” said John Berggren, a water policy analyst at Western Resource Advocates.

Last year was among the driest in the region’s history, when Las Vegas went a record 240 days without measurable rainfall. And the future flow of the Colorado River, which accounts for 90% of southern Nevada’s water, is in question.