Park City officials estimate at least half the water usage within city limits is outdoor watering.
And communities around the state are restricting irrigation earlier this year after a dismal winter. Park City’s rules kick in starting May 1 — even-numbered addresses can water on even-numbered days, and vice versa.
The Park City water department’s conservation coordinator, Susan Cordone, said the city is promoting conservation with incentives.
“We encourage water use reduction via turf removal,” she said on KPCW’s “Local News Hour” April 24. “Turf, of course, is a very, very thirsty plant.”
Under its landscape incentive program, the city will reimburse home and business owners with qualifying lawns who replace grass with fire- and water-wise landscaping.
Mountain Regional Water offers a nearly identical program to its customers outside of city limits.
“We're looking at more of the native species that we have, kind of removing the turf that Susan was talking about, and putting in some more of the native, drought-tolerant plants,” MRW Assistant Regional Manager Lisa Hoffman said.
All of Utah is in some degree of drought right now, prompting water districts to call for reduced usage this summer.
Three quarters of Utah’s water use is agricultural, according to Utah State University.
Lawn irrigation makes up 60% of the remaining “municipal” water usage.
Hoffman said homeowners interested in making the permanent switch to less water-intensive options can make an appointment online.
“Our customer service team will come out, and we will talk with you about the design that you're interested in doing. We will measure the area that you're interested in replacing, and start to look at your landscape plan and what that looks like,” she said.
Participating water customers will be reimbursed at $3 per square foot of sod.
Park City Municipal is a financial supporter of KPCW.
