Cash incentives for nonfunctional turf conversion projects are set to decrease next year, so it’s no surprise that businesses and HOA communities across the valley are taking advantage of the current rebates while they can.
Starting Jan. 1, 2025, the Southern Nevada Water Authority’s (SNWA) Water Smart Landscapes rebate will be reduced to $2 per square foot for the first 10,000 square feet of nonfunctional grass converted to drip-irrigated trees and plants, and $1 per square foot thereafter.
Businesses, HOAs and multifamily properties can still receive the current rebate of $3 per square foot for the first 10,000 square feet of grass converted and $1.50 per square foot thereafter for projects completed by the end of 2024.
MGM Resorts Land Holdings is one such business that took advantage of the current rates before they expire by removing more than 47,000 square feet of grass in April through the SNWA’s Water Smart Landscapes program. That conversion project alone will conserve nearly 3.5 million gallons of water annually.
The changes to the cash rebate program come as a state-mandated deadline to remove nonfunctional grass in the driest city in the nation draws nearer. The Nevada Legislature in 2021 passed a law that prohibits the use of Colorado River water to irrigate nonfunctional, decorative grass — found along roadways and medians, in front of and around businesses and some of the grass managed by homeowner associations — starting Jan. 1, 2027.
For Southern Nevada, grass irrigation remains the largest consumptive use of water from the Colorado River, which provides 90 percent of our limited water supplies. Despite last year’s great winter, the river remains in a federally declared shortage condition that reduces Nevada’s allocation for the third consecutive year.
Some businesses, HOAs and other non-single-family properties across the valley have already taken a major step towards compliance with the law, but there is still a considerable about of useless grass that needs to be removed before the deadline.
Once fully implemented, the conservation law will help Southern Nevada save 9.5 billion gallons of water annually. Additional information about both Nevada law and the SNWA’s Water Smart Landscapes rebate program is available at snwa.com.
