Full Description

The Las Vegas Valley in southern Nevada receives only anaverage of 4.5 inches of annual precipitation, has a yearly evapotranspirationalwater requirement of nearly 90 inches, and is oneof the fastest growing metropolitan areas in the UnitedStates. Like most desert cities in the southwestern UnitedStates, typically 60-90% of all water use by single-familyresidences is for landscape irrigation. The Southern NevadaWater Authority partnered with the US Bureau of Reclamationto fund a five-year study of the economic and conservationeffects of converting turf landscapes to low-water-useXeriscape.Results indicated that conversion to xeric landscape producedsignificant water savings of 55.8 gal/sq ft annually. Homes thatconverted from turf grass to Xeriscape realized a 30% decrease inyearly total household water use, which equates to 96,000 galannually. Xeriscape also provided savings in labor and money.Compared with owners of properties dominated by turf, the studygroup with xeric landscapes reported average annual reductions of26.4 hours in labor and $206 in direct maintenance expenditures.Utilities may find it worth while to develop or strengthenincentive programs to foster conversion to Xeriscape among theirresidential and commercial customers. Includes 10 references, tables, figures.

Product Details

Edition: Vol. 98 - No. 2 Published: 02/01/2006 Number of Pages: 12 File Size: 1 file , 610 KB