Desert look sweeping across valley

Cheryl Miller

Thursday, July 15, 1999 | 10:52 a.m.

Two months ago Las Vegas residents Nadine and Joe Cracraft decided to give up the ability to wriggle their toes in their front-yard grass for a desert landscape and a discount on their water bill.

"We knew we had to do some front-yard landscaping anyway," Nadine Cracraft said. "Then we started thinking, 'We're in the desert. We don't need grass.' "

So the Cracrafts hired a landscaper to tear out the lawn patches and rocks and replace them with mesquite and apricot trees, agapanthus and morning glory. In return, they got a yard that needs less water and a $100 water bill credit from the Southern Nevada Water Authority with a promise for more savings in the coming months.

"The rebate was nice but it wasn't the major thing," she said. The yard conserves water and draws compliments from neighbors. "It's very unusual. It's very eye-catching, and I like that."

The Cracrafts are one of 130 households that have taken advantage of a 6-month-old Water Authority program that pays customers to trade their turf for Texas mountain laurel, trailing gold dalea and other plants that sip rather than gulp water.

Under the program, eligible water district customers who convert a certain portion of their yard to desert-friendly landscaping, known as xeriscaping, receive an immediate $100 credit on their water bill. After that, customers can take another $5 in credit, up to $300, for every 1,000 gallons of water they save.

The authority is a regional water agency for the cities of Las Vegas, North Las Vegas, Henderson, Boulder City and two water districts and the Clark County Sanitation District.

Households enrolled in the program have saved $19,731 on their water bills to date.

"It's a situation where people understand the benefits of having a xeriscape," said David Riggleman, conservation manager of the authority and the Las Vegas Valley Water District. "It's going to save them money. It's going to mean less maintenance."

The authority's cash-for-grass effort, more formally known as the Southern Nevada Xeriscapes Program, is part of a long-term effort to conserve water in this fast-growing arid region. Faced with the constantly looming threat of having to cap growth if the overall water supply isn't increased, the authority is trying to cut water consumption by 25 percent over 1990 levels by 2010.

In addition to the $500,000 xeriscape program, the authority offers free landscaping classes, a water-saving advice hotline operated 16 hours a day, an Internet website with conservation tips and the Desert Demonstration Gardens, all to promote efficient water use in the valley.

Right now, Riggleman said, water use is down just over 15 percent since 1990.

And while summer is hardly the time to put in new plants, the authority is hoping the shock of typically higher summer water bills, a fall marketing campaign and the appearance of more xeriscaped yards that look good will sell more people on the xeriscaping program after the heat subsides.

"I think over time, we've got some very good examples of xeriscaping ... in the community," Riggleman said. "We didn't have that 10 years ago. People thought desert landscaping meant rock, cactus and cattle skulls in the front yard."

Riggleman is convinced that more and more people are tired of fighting high water bills and Mother Nature to keep a green lawn in the summer. About 60 percent of new homes in the Las Vegas area are built with desert landscaping at the owners' request, he said. Las Vegas' turf limitation ordinance, which took effect last August, restricts the amount of grass that can be planted around new homes.

Still, landscaping is the biggest target of water use in the valley. Homes account for 65 percent of water use. Of that, 60 percent is used on outside watering -- a figure that can jump to 90 percent in the summer.

Earlier this year the authority expanded the xeriscape program to businesses and multifamily complexes that include condominiums and apartments. Property owners get a 25-cents-per-square-foot credit, up to $15,000, on their water bills.

Sunrise Villa No. 6, a 62-unit condominium complex near McLeod Drive and Pecos Road, received a $7,500 credit for converting more than 32,000 square feet to xeriscape. Red rock and curbing now replace boundary lawn areas. What was a huge swath of grass in the center of the complex is now covered by more red rock and planters filled with Mediterranean palms, lilies-of-the-Nile and yucca plants.

Most of the complex's residents "just think its beautiful," said Monte Fletcher, vice president of the homeowners' association. "A lot of them were skeptical, but after they got through with the work, they thought it was beautiful ... everybody just oohs and ahs over the center part especially."

Large amounts of grassy areas were saved so every resident can open his or her front door "and see green," Fletcher said.

With the xeriscaping, Sunrise Villa hopes to save a million gallons of water annually and reduce its water bills, which have been running $16,000 a year. Complex directors have assured residents that, with the savings, they should be able to keep monthly dues in check -- a major selling point.

"People always listen when you tell them you're going to save them money," Fletcher said.

Converting to xeriscape isn't cheap, especially for residents who hire professional landscapers. The Water Authority estimates that conversion costs typically run between 50 cents and $3 per square foot.

Xeriscaping doesn't totally eliminate the need for watering either. Even though the Sunrise Villa condominiums will cut water use by 20 percent, the common grounds will still consume about 4 million gallons of water a year.

And there will always be those residents who will never give up their lawns, no matter how high water rates go. That's fine, Water Authority officials say. Just keep the grass in an area where it uses the least water and where people actually use it.

"Our message is not that we're anti-grass," Riggleman said, "just put it in an appropriate spot."

The Cracrafts both say they'd recommend the xeriscape program to others. But even though Nadine Cracraft said her neighbors admire her new front yard, none of them has announced plans to convert their own lawns.

Still, Riggleman thinks the xeriscape program and conservation in general will succeed as more people move to Las Vegas with the notion of living within the means of the desert instead of trying to change it.

"A dozen years ago it was easy to see wall-to-wall grass in some neighborhoods," he said. "People wanted to bring wherever they were from with them to Southern Nevada. ... Over time in the community, we've learned that we can have landscaping that's both water-efficient and good-looking."