Ensign to propose rebates for turf removal

Thursday, Dec. 16, 2004 | 11:02 a.m.

Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., today announced a $200 million rebate program to help public agencies remove turf and save water.

The program would be funded through proceeds of federal land sales authorized by the 1998 Southern Nevada Public Land Management Act. Schools, local, state and federal agencies could replace grass with desert landscaping under the plan, which would save enough water for about 500,000 people in Southern Nevada annually.

Ensign said he has the support of the Nevada congressional delegation for legislation he will introduce next month that would amend the public land management act to divert the funds for the program.

"Into the future we need to be thinking outside of our boxes," Ensign said to the annual meeting of the Colorado River Water Users Association at Caesars Palace.

Ensign co-sponsored the 1998 act when he was a member of the House of Representatives. Since then the federal Bureau of Land Management has sold off more than 8,000 acres and generated almost $1.4 billion, most of which has gone to environmental and outdoor-recreational projects in Southern Nevada and elsewhere in the state.

A spokeswoman for Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., today was unable to immediately confirm Reid's stance on Ensign's proposal.

Aides to Nevada's House members said the lawmakers generally support the plan.

Rep. Jim Gibbons, R-Nev., has proposed using a bigger percentage of the Clark County lands act money for eduction, but still generally backs Ensign's plan, Gibbons spokeswoman Amy Spanbauer said. Rep. Shelley Berkeley, D-Nev., supports water conservation efforts but wants more time to study the details of the Ensign plan, spokesman David Cherry said. Rep. Jon Porter, R-Nev., supports the plan.

Ensign said the funding would be particularly important for such public institutions as older schools which are often surrounded by grassy turf, requiring extensive irrigation. The Clark County School District has been experimenting with replacing grass with artificial turf in landscaping and athletic fields.

Ensign said this would allow the school district and other public agencies to use their funds for their core missions instead of water conservation.

Kurt Segler, city of Henderson utilities director and president of the Colorado River Water Users Association, said the program makes sense.

"It gives us an opportunity to take advantage of a great act (the public lands management act) and further helps public agencies such as the school district," Segler said.

Ensign saluted efforts among the seven Colorado River basin states and specifically the Southern Nevada Water Authority to cooperate and find regional solutions to western water shortages. He cited today's approval of a landmark cash-for-water deal between southern Nevada and Arizona that provides $1.25 million acre-feet of water to Las Vegas in the coming decades.

"It is that type of cooperation we need to have much more of into the future," he said.

The Southern Nevada Water Authority has spent $38 million to covert 48 million square feet of turf, saving 2.6 billion gallons of water with its drought conservation program, much of it in the last two years. While Ensign's plan targets public agencies, the water authority's program has been aimed at homeowners and private businesses.

Pat Mulroy, water authority general manager, said the existing turf replacement program is also open to governmental entities and some have obtained rebates from the water authority, but Ensign's proposal has several key advantages.

It would allow for direct funding in "big direct chunks" to public agencies and it means that water authority money can more directly target private landowners.

"By taking them (public entities) off the dole, it frees up money for the private interest," she said.

Mulroy said the program would allow public agencies such as schools to spend money on their core missions rather than water conservation programs.

"Some of the largest savings in turf can be facilitated for public purposes," she said.