Las Vegas, NV – Senator John Ensign (R-Nevada) last month announced a $200 million conservation initiative to help public agencies remove turf and save water. The announcement was made Dec. 16 at the conference of the Colorado River Water Users Association. Ensign told attendees he will introduce legislation to utilize funds from the Southern Nevada Public Lands Management Act (SNPLMA) in order to expand the popular “cash for grass” program to public institutions.
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“It is critical to the continued growth and success of southern Nevada that we continue to be innovative when it comes to water conservation,” Ensign said. “This money is exactly what we need to help reduce our dependence on limited water resources.”
Currently, Southern Nevada Water Authority customers can participate in the "Water Smart Landscapes" rebate program that pays $1 per square foot of turf removed from an existing landscape and replaced with xeric landscaping. So far, the program has paid out more than $13 million dollars to participants, and representatives in Ensign's office note that there is a waiting list for individuals who want to participate. They add that the new initiative directed toward public land has producted an overwhelmingly positive response, as well.
Ensign’s legislation, which the senator hopes to introduce as soon as possible, would direct $200 million in proceeds from SNPLMA into a Southern Nevada Water Authority program that would provide a financial incentive for public institutions to remove unnecessary turf. Participants, such as the Clark County School District and area parks, would be encouraged to remove peripheral turf that is not critical to sports and recreation.
Estimates indicate that as much as 247 million square feet of turf would be removed, permanently saving 42,000 acre feet of water per year, the average consumed annually by 63,000 households in the Las Vegas Valley. Details on the compensation that participants would receive per square foot of turf replaced have not yet been outlined.
“This $200 million is priceless in terms of southern Nevada’s future and our continued need for water,” Ensign said. “It will also save our schools and parks a great deal of money that can be better used for educating our children and creating safe spaces for them. I look forward to working with the rest of Nevada’s Congressional Delegation to make this major water conservation step a reality.”
SNPLMA required that a disposal boundary be drawn around the valley and that the disposable land be auctioned to the highest bidder. The proceeds of those land auctions, which have generated almost $1.4 billion, go into a fund to build parks and trails, acquire environmentally sensitive land, maintain the Clark County Multi-Species Habitat Conservation Plan and improve the clarity of Lake Tahoe. Funds are also allocated for water infrastructure and to the general education fund of the state of Nevada.