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Las Vegas Pushes To Become First To Ban Ornamental Grass (apnews.com) 143

With a first-in-the-nation policy, Las Vegas is seeking to ban grass that nobody 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," reports The Associated Press. By outlawing this ornamental grass that requires four times as much water as drought-tolerant landscaping, the region can reduce annual water consumption by roughly 15% and save about 14 gallons of water per person per day. From the report: The proposal is part of a turf war waged since at least 2003, when the water authority banned developers from planting green front yards in new subdivisions. It also offers owners of older properties the region's most generous rebate policies to tear out sod -- up to $3 per square foot. Those efforts are slowing. The agency says the number of acres converted under its rebate program fell last year to six times less than what it was in 2008. Meanwhile, water consumption in southern Nevada has increased 9% since 2019.

Justin Jones, a Clark County commissioner who serves on the water authority's board, doesn't think ripping out ornamental turf will upend people's lives. "To be clear, we are not coming after your average homeowner's backyard," he said. But grass in the middle of a parkway, where no one walks: "That's dumb." "The only people that ever set foot on grass that's in the middle of a roadway system are people cutting the grass," Jones said. The agency has different regulations for yards and public parks. Based on satellite imaging, it believes banning ornamental grass will primarily affect common areas maintained by homeowner associations and commercial property owners.

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Las Vegas Pushes To Become First To Ban Ornamental Grass

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  • Loses 12,000,000 gallons a year to evaporation. Maybe they should look at that.
    • by saloomy ( 2817221 ) on Tuesday April 13, 2021 @05:52PM (#61270348)
      That is actually not that much water. 19 gallons per person per day in a city with 3 million people is 57,000,000 gallons a day. So if you are right, the Bellagio fountain uses 6 hours of water a year. It is worth that at least, considering how much of an attraction it is, beautifying the strip; and providing joy to thousands every time it goes off. Not to mention the fact that fish and birds use the fountain as well.
      • by HotNeedleOfInquiry ( 598897 ) on Tuesday April 13, 2021 @05:55PM (#61270358)
        You make a good point, but it still won't stop me from karma whoring.
        • by what2123 ( 1116571 ) on Tuesday April 13, 2021 @07:38PM (#61270676)
          If only /. Had a mod choice of karma whore. I'd give it points.
      • by Darinbob ( 1142669 ) on Tuesday April 13, 2021 @07:18PM (#61270628)

        They could replace it with heavy water. Less evaporation, tastes sweet. I hear Japan is trying to get rid of some.

    • Whataboutism.
    • by Strider- ( 39683 )

      From what I recall, that fountain uses reprocessed/treated grey water from the hotel, so it's not drawing from the city water supply nearly as much as it appears.

  • Good (Score:3, Insightful)

    by dskoll ( 99328 ) on Tuesday April 13, 2021 @05:46PM (#61270324) Homepage

    Lawns make no sense anywhere. You have plant monocultures that consume lots of water and either energy or dangerous chemicals if you try to keep them weed-free.

    • Re:Good (Score:4, Interesting)

      by TWX ( 665546 ) on Tuesday April 13, 2021 @06:23PM (#61270438)

      Lawns make plenty of sense when you have small children and you want a nice, smooth, easily maintainable area outdoors for them to play.

      A short-mowed lawn allows one to ensure that the area is free from anything that might serve to cut or otherwise injure a child, and if a child trips and lands in the grass, it's spongy enough to reduce the chances of injury.

      Such a lawn adjacent to a structure will also reduce temperatures in that spot compared to bare earth or natural landscaping.

      The steps that Las Vegas is taking make sense. Grass on highway or street medians doesn't make much sense. Grass on campuses where pedestrians are discouraged from walking on it doesn't make much sense either. If th footpaths are infrequently enough used it might actually make more sense to well-grade the footpaths' earth and then grow grass specifically to be walked on, assuming that there's enough downtime to allow a watering schedule that maintains the grass in a healthy fashion and doesn't lead to considerable bare patches or mud.

      For my own home in a similar-enough climate I have ground cover adjacent to the house in the form of mexican evening primrose, along with a grassy front yard that the kids play on, plus a small patch of grass in the backyard, likewise to be played on. Most of the yard is dirt or flower beds with specific drip watering directly to the plants, rather than general spray or flood, and a good chunk are desert plants. That said we still have almost three-dozen rose bushes, but on a drip system this isn't horribly inefficient.

      Once the kids are past playing on the lawn then we may well put in artificial turf in front, but we're not to that point yet.

      • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

        by RamenMan ( 7301402 )

        That mexican primrose is the scourge of my yard!

        It came in accidentally through some plants I bought at WalMart. Which is why I will never again buy plants at Walmart!

        But, it is a very pretty flower, and a tenacious plant. If you are looking for good groundcover, it makes sense. My problem is that it has infested a succulent bed, and it keeps growing up through the other plants.

        And, I also have about 3 dozen roses (are we related?). Established roses are very drought tolerant and don't require too much w

        • by TWX ( 665546 )

          Ours is contained in a roughly 3' wide by 30' long strip up against the house next to the garage on the south-facing side. There's a wide sidewalk and the driveway penning it in, plus a large planter on the other side of that sidewalk, so it can't get out into the yard. It is pretty, ours has small pink flowers rough an inch to an inch and a half in diameter and right now it's in full bloom.

          This strip had this plant once before, it ended up dying out because that circuit was originally manually controlled

        • by edis ( 266347 )

          Nice place to visit, thanks for keeping this way.

      • I don't know about you, but here in Dallas we mostly just plant Bermuda grass, which is well adapted to the climate. No watering required.

        For *ideal* growth, it would get watered three to five times a year (in July, Aug, and maybe Sept). I don't even do that. It does just fine on rainfall.

        It provides erosion control and other benefits.
        Particularly with the expansive clay soil in this half of Dallas. If you don't have any plants buffering the soil moisture, it ruins your home's foundation.

        • I don't know about you, but here in Dallas we mostly just plant Bermuda grass, which is well adapted to the climate. No watering required.

          Bullshit.
          Watering New Bermuda Grass in Texas [zodega.com]

          Bermuda grass requires approximately 1 â" 1.25 inches of water per week to stay healthy during the summertime months. If the ground is sandy, a half inch of water needs to be applied once every third day to keep grass growing as it should.

          • I don't know about you, but here in Dallas we mostly just plant Bermuda grass, which is well adapted to the climate. No watering required.

            Bullshit. Watering New Bermuda Grass in Texas [zodega.com]

            Bermuda grass requires approximately 1 â" 1.25 inches of water per week to stay healthy during the summertime months. If the ground is sandy, a half inch of water needs to be applied once every third day to keep grass growing as it should.

            To be fair, he never said it stays green. Bermuda is fairly hardy in that it can have pretty deep roots and handle going dormant a few times during the summer. I would guess the watering requirements listed there is a suggestion for grass that hasn't established its root system yet.

      • by hawk ( 1151 )

        > Grass on campuses where pedestrians are discouraged from walking on it doesn't make much sense either.

        While I'm downright hostile to unwalled lawn, grass *does* make a noticeable difference in adjacent temperatures.

        A couple of years ago, when we fixed the grass outside our bedroom window (it's *amazing* how many ways there are for a lawn to be killed [including a sprinkler controller failing on *most* circuits, but not the one right in front of the house, so you don't notice until it's too late, and lo

    • Lawns make no sense anywhere. You have plant monocultures that consume lots of water and either energy or dangerous chemicals if you try to keep them weed-free.

      Meanwhile, on the east coast, I have to put in drains to keep my yard from flooding. Grass just grows naturally, and it's necessary to stop erosion. I couldn't imagine watering a lawn.

      And dandelions are awesome.

      • Lawns make no sense anywhere. You have plant monocultures that consume lots of water and either energy or dangerous chemicals if you try to keep them weed-free.

        Meanwhile, on the east coast, I have to put in drains to keep my yard from flooding. Grass just grows naturally, and it's necessary to stop erosion. I couldn't imagine watering a lawn.

        And dandelions are awesome.

        Yeah, planting lawns in the desert would be like us planting cactus and palm trees with giant grow lights aimed at them.

    • by jlar ( 584848 )

      Lawns make no sense anywhere. You have plant monocultures that consume lots of water and either energy or dangerous chemicals if you try to keep them weed-free.

      Here in Denmark a new gardening trend (not sure how big it is going to be) is to transform gardens to "natural gardens" where you plant wild flowers and plants instead of the common monocultures. And then use the lawnmower to make and maintain paths so that you can enjoy the garden. No need for chemicals. Maybe even put a bench or two along your paths. The result of these natural gardens is a much more diverse flora and fauna (for example bees). You are in essence transforming your garden to a minihabitat f

  • by PPH ( 736903 ) on Tuesday April 13, 2021 @05:50PM (#61270330)

    grass in the middle of a parkway, where no one walks

    We can send you some of our homeless people. Problem solved.

  • HOAs, eh? (Score:5, Interesting)

    by nicolaiplum ( 169077 ) on Tuesday April 13, 2021 @05:53PM (#61270352)

    "banning ornamental grass will primarily affect common areas maintained by homeowner associations"

    I am going to need extra popcorn to watch this one to the end. The legal actions, whining, just plain scoffing at the law, and so on from HOAs is going to run and run.

    It will be good to see HOAs wings clipped. They don't just end up run by control freaks who delight in making people's lives a misery with petty rules, they're an active environmental hazard with their lawn policies, their lawn landscaping, and their other poor decisions.

    • by TWX ( 665546 )

      I see it being the other way around. I see HOAs choosing to get rid of the expense of maintaining grassy areas for the residents to use in the name of complying with the city, even if those spaces are commonly used. And I don't see HOA dues being reduced even if the maintenance costs decrease.

      • The park system in our city is doing this. They are converting a large percent of the city's park space into what they call "prairie", but it really is just un-managed brush, weeds, and various grasses. It is now unusable space as a park since it is much too dense to walk through or play on. But it saves the city costs in mowing, which was their main goal. Unfortunately it's more marketing ("we're making prairie!" vs. "we don't want to mow your park any more") and cost savings at the cost of reducing usabil
        • Unfortunately it's more marketing ("we're making prairie!" vs. "we don't want to mow your park any more") and cost savings at the cost of reducing usability of parks.

          If they didn't bring in any buffalo, it's definitely not prairie. The prairie ecosystem depends on large herbivores.

    • by fermion ( 181285 )
      This is unused ornamental grass. Not a yard. It would be ideal that in areas where the is low moisture only zero scape type situations would prevail. Ideally only native foliage that does not require excessive resources would be used.

      The west is under extreme pressure from water resources. Lake mead is soon going to no longer provide power or water. Conservation is critical

    • Re:HOAs, eh? (Score:4, Interesting)

      by k6mfw ( 1182893 ) on Wednesday April 14, 2021 @01:43AM (#61271342)

      As a board member at a HOA, entire complex consumes a lot of water which obvious because several units. There is a monthly bill for the association (dues cover it as there are no individual meters), a question I wonder is how much consumed in landscaping. Then I wonder just how much in comparison water is used on lawns. Lawns are easy to decide because highly visible (interesting some mentioned they prevent erosion and kept small size keeps it becoming fire hazard in contrast to overgrown weeds). There are a few buildings, do some consume more than others?

      I looked into Badger Meter E-Series ultrasonic meters because SJ Water Co uses this meter to measure water consumption for billing. Few years ago there was a noticable uptick of water consumption that was constant even in middle of night when typical flow rate drops. They sent a screenshot of the daily flowrate, there was a aux water line that broke but excess water was not apparent at the time. I looked closely into what flowmeters they used and saw data points can be gathered down to hourly samples (number of gallons per hour), I was briefly able to access some of this data including downloadable csv files so I could do plots from Excel. Talking with some plumbers, a big contributor of water waste are dripping faucets and leaky toilet flappers.

      One of the things I want to do (pending more pressing issues we currently have) is install a Badgermeter for each building since this is association property and we can see consumption per building. And other flowmeters for landscaping which will give us real data on just how much water is used on plants. I have a feeling landscaping is noticable but not a major contributor.

      Interesting comments here (I never thought lawns are used for erosion protection) but then most water used for farming. Here in Calif it is generally a battle between farmers and city dwellers. Obviously need water for farms or we'll all starve but need water for cities or cut off water to businesses and companies things can get real ugly. So when it comes to wasting water, I think blaming on lawns is a distraction. Wars have been fought about water, a lot of domestic corruption and political manipulation has been about water. Earlier this evening watching on PBS about the dustbowl in 1930s, lack of water created major havoc. And regarding PBS, I remember in 1970s the MacNeil Lehrer Report (now called Newshour) discussed about salt buildup in central California farmland. Discussion was how to mitigate salt buildup (when water evaporates, the salt disolved does not, it gets left behind). With lots of water being brought in for irrigation but estimates at the time showed by such year (I forgot what it was) then much of the central Calif farmland will be too salty for crops. Costs for mitigating were huge (around one or two billion dollars when Silicon Valley houses ran for about 150K, many cheaper).

      • by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

        In the UK there was a big push to switch to dual flush toilets, to save water. It had the opposite effect because the dual flush ones all leak. It's been a disaster.

        The individual leaks are small so are not worth people fixing. The cost of a new valve system every few years or a new toilet is much more than the lost water, especially if a plumber is needed to fit them. Together though they add up to a large amount of wasted water for the whole country.

  • by couchslug ( 175151 ) on Tuesday April 13, 2021 @05:57PM (#61270360)

    It's a terrible location for anything but Nellis AFB and the sooner drought makes desert habitation untenable the better.

    The US is vast. No one needs to live in desert.

    • This.
    • by TWX ( 665546 ) on Tuesday April 13, 2021 @06:27PM (#61270456)

      The US is vast. No one needs to live in desert.

      The US is vast, no one needs to live in a frozen wasteland.

      The US is vast, no one needs to live in a swamp.

      The US is vast, no one needs to live in a woodland prone to forest fires.

      The US is vast, no one needs to live in an earthquake zone.

      The US is vast, no one needs to live in the Mississippi/Missouri floodplain.

      The US is vast, no one needs to live in a city threatened by coastal inundation.

      The US is vast, no one needs to live in the path of hurricanes.

      The US is vast, no one needs to live in Tornado Alley.

  • Great start (Score:5, Insightful)

    by SuperKendall ( 25149 ) on Tuesday April 13, 2021 @05:59PM (#61270366)

    I know some people love lawns, but there are just far too many lawns.

    I myself would go without a front lawn at least, and just have a smaller lawn I could enjoy in the back - however covenants prevent that.

    It would be great to see municipalities start to pass laws, that make it illegal for covenants to prevent you from xeriscaping front laws. That could save quite a bit of water (and frankly frustration, I really hate taking care of lawns).

    • by hey! ( 33014 )

      My town put artificial turf on one of the baseball fields. It was so convincing that when I walked out on it, I had to get down on my hands and knees to tell, and even then I had to touch it with my fingers to be absolutely sure. Underfoot it feels just like the real thing. And it has a 15 year warranty.

      There's more up front cost, and the annual maintenance costs turn out to be roughly the same as natural turf, so it doesn't make sense for the town to use it everywhere. The main difference is that the a

      • by jlar ( 584848 )

        My town put artificial turf on one of the baseball fields. It was so convincing that when I walked out on it, I had to get down on my hands and knees to tell, and even then I had to touch it with my fingers to be absolutely sure. Underfoot it feels just like the real thing. And it has a 15 year warranty.

        There's more up front cost, and the annual maintenance costs turn out to be roughly the same as natural turf, so it doesn't make sense for the town to use it everywhere. The main difference is that the artificial field always looks *perfect*, so they just use it on the most important field. But we also live in a place with abundant water. If you lived in a place with scarce and expensive water I'd think it'd be a no-brainer.

        But what is it made of? My guess is that it at least contains polypropylene and polyethylene (plastic). You may be able to dispose the remaining artificial turf without any serious pollution once it is worn down but the wear and tear will probably spread those plastics in the surrounding environment. So, probably not a good idea to use it everywhere even if it was affordable.

  • by chrysrobyn ( 106763 ) on Tuesday April 13, 2021 @06:11PM (#61270420)

    Where I live, you don't want tall grass, trees with undergrowth or a lot of bushes too close to your house because that's where mice and rats like to live. So you really want 10-15 feet from your house to the nearest thing. Grass is the best way to control erosion, and that's why we need to mow it.

    In the desert, it's a good idea to plant some native plants to help control erosion and there are another dozen ways you can maintain landscaping without using non-native water-wasting grasses that only waste precious resources.

  • by Iamthecheese ( 1264298 ) on Tuesday April 13, 2021 @06:18PM (#61270428)
    According to the EPA [kennesaw.edu] 6% of water usage is domestic. Let's make farms more efficient. Then let's find industrial processes that use less water. Then let's install grey water systems in domestic houses. After all of that's done we won't have a problem watering our lawns. But I doubt this is actually about water at all.
    • by currently_awake ( 1248758 ) on Tuesday April 13, 2021 @06:55PM (#61270538)
      In many areas of the US the farmers have first dibs on water, at subsidized prices. That is the reason they grow rice and almonds in the desert. Changing this would require changing US water rights law (and should be done).
      • Priority should be given to the people who grow our food. Any city will collapse in days without food. Even upping the price creates riots.
    • I never realized 40% of water usage comes from irrigation. It makes sense when you think about it because the warm and arid regions like California supply much of the fresh produce in the colder parts of the country for up to half of the year. Everyone wants their fresh veggies, melons, and strawberries year round now.

      Most big huge prairie grain farms are not irrigated as they usually get enough water from rain and snow runoff.

    • In this case yes its all about water las vegas is in a desert dude grass wouldn't survive unless manually watered its a desert lol they only get a little over 4 inches a year so their wouldn't be no where near enough gray water to feed a lawn.
    • You're looking at national statistics for a local issue. Las Vegas is a city in the desert: All water is imported, at considerable expense. It also doesn't have any farming and little heavy industry* - their economy is dominated by services and hospitality. Conference centers, catering, tourism, and the (in)famous casinos.

      *There's some mining nearby.

      • by hawk ( 1151 )

        >All water is imported, at considerable expense.

        err, no. That's just plain not true.

        Not only are there massive aquifers, but they're the very *reason* Las Vegas is where it is: the railroads built a watering station.

        The name, in fact, means "the meadows".

    • by brunes69 ( 86786 )

      Er.... there are not many farms in the middle of the Nevada desert. Not sure how this point is relevant to Las Vegas.

    • All well and good, but what percentage of water usage in Las Vegas is going to farms? I suspect that the national averages are meaningless in this particular context.
  • by Jodka ( 520060 ) on Tuesday April 13, 2021 @06:21PM (#61270436)

    Usually I advocate for price rationing; Just charge the market rate for a resource, without subsidies, and consumers will adjust their consumption accordingly to conserve scarce resources.

    However, that would have the perverse outcome that a multi-millionaire could continue to water his acres of lawn while that consumption raised prices for the low-income earner. So like all true market advocates, I recognize that markets alone are not categorically satisfactory remedies to scarcity. After all, free market advocacy is truly about recognizing the trend that some markets tend toward optimality, not about rigid adherence to a misguided ethical principle that such a system must be imposed always and everywhere.

    I can't see a clear line of reasoning between the two, but it seem that the root cause for this exception is naturally-constrained supply; sum production will not increase in response to demand because western water consumption depletes geologically ancient reservoirs accumulated over millennia. Also, water present-day value does not price-in inevitable future shortages because of the absence of speculation; If water speculation were possible, the present-day price would better reflect future scarcity because consumers today would have to compete with speculators to purchase water.

    By the way, it seems like all they can do is postpone the train wreck. The great lakes region banned export of water via pipeline to the southwest, though without any evidence of actual harm that some diversion would cause. The water leaves those lakes anyway, so there is no a priori basis, before study, for convictions of harm.

         

    • Is it really that shocking for millionaires to have things others dont?
      • by Duhavid ( 677874 )

        No, it is not shocking for the wealthy to have things others dont.

        But the question posed is really "is it right for the wealthy to have things other dont".
        Ferrari's, Maserati's, expensive watches, expensive homes, etc, sure.

        Water, shelter, food? When the consumption by the wealthy crowds out others from getting basic necessities, it is my opinion that that is an unalloyed wrong.
        ( "However, that would have the perverse outcome that a multi-millionaire could continue to water his acres of lawn while that con

    • The great lakes are hevily polluted, you don't want that on your food. Household grey water (showers/bathtubs) should be used for irrigation of gardens and lawns. The storm drains should go into a cistern instead of the ocean.
  • Las Vegas is in a desert, so nothing about this is crazy. However, I think they could help themselves out by building a water recycling plant. Turning black water back in to tap water is an idea worth investment.

    • How about turning black water into landscaping water?
      Also how about plumbing homes so that grey water (like from sinks, bathtubs, and washing machines) is separate from the sanitary drain system, so grey water can be reclaimed easily and used for landscaping also? You'd have a tank out back of your house for the grey water, and that gets pumped into landscape irrigation systems in your yard. You might have to run it through a filter so nozzles don't get clogged but otherwise why not?
      • How about turning black water into landscaping water?

        Also how about plumbing homes so that grey water (like from sinks, bathtubs, and washing machines) is separate from the sanitary drain system, so grey water can be reclaimed easily and used for landscaping also?

        The problem with this idea is that it requires modifying every house, has to be maintained, and can be bypassed (rich people totally will). A water recycling plant is a much better solution that can work within the existing infrastructure and cannot be bypassed.

    • by brunes69 ( 86786 ) <slashdot@nOSpam.keirstead.org> on Wednesday April 14, 2021 @07:58AM (#61271772)

      They already do this. LVVWD reclaims all of the waste water, treats it, and then SELLS it to the golf courses, parks, and casinos around Las vegas. They use this money to fund the water authority.

      They are literally selling the urine of their residents.

      • They are literally selling the urine of their residents.

        That's not how water recycling works. When you recycle water, everything except the H2O is removed.

    • by hawk ( 1151 )

      err, are you aware that Las Vegas is one of the few places in the world that has reached 100% full treatment of sewage.

      As in, it *all* is treated to the point that it is safely returned to Lake Mead.

  • What would be the best lawn substitute? What substitute that doesn't require watering and mowing and fertilizing?
    • I've been trying to plant dichondra rebens in my garden. Unsuccessfully, so far - the seed wouldn't germinate, and I suspect it may have been sitting in a warehouse for ten years waiting for someone to buy it. That's what you get for buying seed on Amazon.

  • Comment removed based on user account deletion
  • You can have nice looking cactus landscapes in those areas.
  • Just looking from a satellite of Las Vegas there are perhaps 10-15 golf courses that must be wasting obscene amounts of water. Seems like there should be some regulations on them too that ultimately require them converting to "brown" courses where at least the fairways are dirt.
  • "Ornamental grass" usually refers to tall, decorative grass which typically uses far less water than green turf. Some species are native to Nevada. The restriction seems to apply just to nonfunctional green turf which serves only an ornamental purpose. If you live in drought country, the distinction is important.

    I wonder if the restriction applies to low-water turf such as Buffalo Grass, or if it only applies to water hogs like Kentucky Bluegrass.

    By the way, the misleading headline came from TFA, so I c

  • You can't plant it unless you can smoke it.

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