The City of Cortez is promoting water conservation through its Turf Replacement Program, offering rebates to property owners who replace lawns that require high water use with drought-resistant landscaping.
Funded by a grant from the Colorado Water Conservation Board, the initiative aims to reduce the city’s summer water consumption, which usually doubles from winter water levels due to landscape and lawn irrigation.
This kind of landscaping is actually called xeriscaping, according to Noah Peterson, project engineer for the city.
“It’s not zeroscaping, but it’s about moving turf,” Peterson told The Journal. “If you remove your turf, you can get a rebate for how much you removed. If you can remove 1,000 square feet, you can get $2 per square foot … it’s really more about water conservation, making sure that we’re doing our part, getting those water bills down as much as possible.”
The program, which was launched in April last year, provides up to $2,000 for residential homeowners and $4,000 for commercial property owners to convert nonfunctional turf to low-water-use landscapes featuring native or adapted plants. Approved projects will have at least 50% plant coverage at maturity and exclude artificial turf, concrete or other unnatural surfaces. Applications are accepted on a first-come, first-served basis until Monday, Sept. 1, with projects due by Friday, October 31.
Peterson added that not using excess water can help prepare for circumstances later where water is needed.
“In doing so, maybe if there’s an emergency down the line, where we have a more serious drought, then we kind of have a better idea of how much water we’re going to have,” Peterson said.
Another benefit of xeriscaping is saving water without creating excess heat. In areas like Las Vegas that use zeroscaping, heat gets trapped in the rocks that are used in place of landscaping. It also helps reduce water bills.
“It’s a good opportunity to reduce those costs a bit, and then also thinking long term,” Peterson said. “The less water you’re going to be using, the less those bills are going to be over time.”
Applications are available at City Hall or online at www.cortezco.gov/913/turf-replacement-program.
