It seems like every single day I read another story like this:
If the Great Salt Lake, which has already shrunk by two-thirds, continues to dry up, here’s what’s in store:
The lake’s flies and brine shrimp would die off — scientists warn it could start as soon as this summer — threatening the 10 million migratory birds that stop at the lake annually to feed on the tiny creatures. Ski conditions at the resorts above Salt Lake City, a vital source of revenue, would deteriorate. The lucrative extraction of magnesium and other minerals from the lake could stop.
Most alarming, the air surrounding Salt Lake City would occasionally turn poisonous. The lake bed contains high levels of arsenic and as more of it becomes exposed, wind storms carry that arsenic into the lungs of nearby residents, who make up three-quarters of Utah’s population.
“We have this potential environmental nuclear bomb that’s going to go off if we don’t take some pretty dramatic action,” said Joel Ferry, a Republican state lawmaker and rancher who lives on the north side of the lake.
Look, I’ve just accepted that we are not going to do anything about climate change. We just aren’t. The shit is going to hit the fan and there is nothing any of us can do about it. But we can do some things to mitigate the harm, although I feel quite as certain we won’t do that, either.
First of which is the population growth in desert climates has just got to stop. We have got to stop subsidizing the growth to regions that do not have the resources to support themselves, and we have got to stop accepting it and pretending it is socially responsible. We also have to stop wrecking communities that COULD survive with the resources they have if big ag and nestle weren’t stealing all of them:
Gary Biggs’ family hasn’t had water coming out of their private well for over a decade, after a multi-year drought and overpumping by agriculture and industry.
Now, the eight-acre farm in West Goshen, California, which Biggs passed down to his son, Ryan, in the 1970s, is parched and fallow. His son and granddaughter carry in water from sources to drink and shower. They go to town to wash their clothes, Biggs says.
In recent years, the family has gone from relying on water from cisterns provided by government programs, which they say tastes terrible, to hauling water containers to and from neighbors’ homes — neighbors who are willing to share what they have left.
Biggs, 72, still remembers when the family property had a thriving orchard. When he was a teenager, he planted pecan and orange trees, while his father grew alfalfa and raised cows and sheep.
“Now, it’s all dirt,” Biggs, a lifelong California resident, told CNN. “Central California is dying. We’re becoming a wasteland. A hot and dry wasteland.”
One of the things we could do that would help is for people to dump their fetishization of grass, which is the worst fucking thing you can have in your yard. It’s utter shit. It is useless. It’s beyond useless, it’s harmful. It causes people to use pesticides to make a certain way, it requires wasting water on it so you can waste gasoline to cut it and emit co2 gasses. It does nothing for wild life, it does nothing as a carbon sink. When there are rains, it doesn’t retain the water like other plants and vegetation would, and runs off into the gutters and gullies carrying all those pesticides into rivers, streams, and wastewater stations.
Personally, I was planning to rip up my back yard and get rid of all the grass this year, but I just do not have the money to do it and get the perennials and rain gardens in. But I might do my front yard. If everyone did this everywhere, it would make a difference, it really would.
But we won’t do anything anyway so I am not sure why I am mentioning. Maybe I’ll challenge a bunch of you to do it with me. I bet we could collectively gain the knowledge to plant the right things for our respective regions- indigenous plants that would help native species, and do it right. Let’s think on that.
Speaking of native species, this slipped through the fence at my parent’s place, and her momma could not get in to retrieve her:
My parent’s neighbor scooped it up and took it out to momma doe:
They headed off to the woods at the edge of town as soon as they were reunited.
Jerzy Russian
Probably more than half of the “lawns” around here (San Diego) are either succulent/cactus/native species or decorative rock. Even if water was free and fell from the sky, it is damn hard to have a decent looking grass lawn.
AJ formerly of the Mustard Search and Rescue team
As an apartment dweller I don’t have a lawn, but I like the idea of pooling the BJ research capacity and lots of Juicers making the changes together or at least simultaneously.
Chris T.
The answer to the title question is “never”.
I used to live in the area, and it was actually illegal (well, against city code) not to grow grass in the desert. Then-SLC-Mayor Rocky Anderson converted his house’s landscaping to xeriscaping, and that was technically violating the rules.
(I didn’t dare replace my lawn. My neighbors would have had conniptions. I did shrink it some. But water was, as the article notes, really cheap: there was basically no financial incentive here.)
JWR
Back in 1985, my cousin and I took a road trip to Englewood, CO, (SE of Denver), and on our way back home to CA, we drove through Salt Lake City, and the lake was so full, we drove several miles on a road that looked like we were driving right through the lake. It was kinda spooky, because we really were driving right through the lake. Lots of briny water on both sides. Sad to see it today.
Another Scott
There’s a house down by the river that is an Audubon At Home Wildlife Sanctuary. I’ve thought about it a few times, and nature is taking over our backyard from neglect, but making the leap is probably too much right now. It certainly is something to think about.
There are several families of foxes in the neighborhood, and of course they favor the wilder yards. Our Ellie would probably go nuts (more than usual) if they found a decent hiding place in our front yard!!
I haven’t watered our lawn in years. It goes dormant in the summer and comes back in the fall. I have never understood the folks that have sprinkler systems and run them every morning only to have all the water evaporate in the blistering afternoon sun. Their grass is probably wondering what the hell is going on since it doesn’t get a chance to rest as it wants to…
Thanks.
Cheers,
Scott.
Hungry Joe
@Jerzy Russian: We have one of those San Diego xeriscaped yards. Ripped out grass, front and back yards, more than 20 years ago. Put fruit trees and DG in the back, succulents in the front. The fruit trees need water, but the succulents … well, maybe a few times a year, mid-summer and early fall.
And Cole is wrong here: We can do something about climate change. We already are. It’s coming — okay, it’s already here — but we can mitigate, minimize. See Rebecca Solnit’s new org “Not Too Late.”
And (Jerzy Russian!) join us at noon tomorrow (Thursday) as we (of 350.org) protest that fracking monster Sempra Energy. Noon, Sempra HQ: 488 8th St., downtown San Diego. I’ll be wearing a Padres hat. Hope to see you there.
frosty
I haven’t done a damn thing to my lawn in almost 20 years. I don’t know what to do about the front, but since the back is half clover I think I’ll figure out how to get rid of the rest of the grass and weeds and make it all clover.
Did you know a clover lawn was considered acceptable 100 years ago?
Chris T.
@JWR:
1984 was the Flood Year; the airport had to use sandbags to block off the flooding so that planes could land. It hasn’t been a completely steady shrinkage since then, but … not that far off.
Leto
Our back yard plays host to several variety of birds (from finches to hawks), and also ground hogs, rabbits, squirrels, and chipmunks. This is our first summer in the house so we want to see what’s going in the front and back before we do too much. But we do plan to host more native species to attract pollinators and insects, which I’m sure the birds will love.
Speaking of birds, we had a pair of finches nest outside our sunroom window in one of our huge shrubs. We listened and watched them grow over the past few weeks and today they were kicked out of the nest. Well, probably fell but they’re right on schedule. We took a few pictures of their development, from beaks just sticking above the nest rim to today’s down on the ground hopping around. Hopefully they come back next year.
billcinsd
In the summer of 1983, I worked in northern Nevada and Utah was worried the GSL was drying up. I moved to SLC for grad school in 1986 and the Utah governor was pushing a plan to build pumps to pump all the excess water in the Great Salt Lake into the Western desert. The GSL had gone over it’s banks like jwr said. Several people every year died as they drove off I-80 into the ditch filled with water from the GSL.
Dangerman
There’s a lovely little community in my area called Cambria. A major tourist location; it’s jaw dropping beautiful and being close to Hearst Castle surely helps draw them in.
Cambria is stone cold fucked on the available water resources. I have no idea what they are gonna do. Come to Cambria but, for goodness sakes, don’t shower?
JWR
@Chris T.:
Ahh, that would explain it. I may have read about it in the ensuing years, but these days, who can remember that far back? ;-) Thanks!
HumboldtBlue
Desert Streetside Rainwater Abundance at 25 years!
JWR
@billcinsd:
Okay, so one side was Great Salt Lake, the other ditch. When we were there, it sure looked like a lake. But yes, we were on I-80.
Ten Bears
Paint your roofs white …
middlelee
@HumboldtBlue: Brilliant! And what is so frustrating is that the best solutions to climate change are at this level. Even other month I buy Permaculture Magazine, published in England, and read about so many great solutions. That’s my porn.
Constance Reader
Even if people want to get rid of their water-sucking lawns, their HOAs or community associations or similar won’t allow many of them to do it.
Pete Mack
Get rid of your lawn a little at a time with black plastic over the winter, or RoundUp whenever it’s convenient. (The former actually works a little better, as the grass roots dry rot and lose their strength.)
Nice Marmot
The folks at Job One for Humanity seem to have the most sober, rational take on what we’ve done and where we’re headed: https://www.joboneforhumanity.org/
Anotherlurker
When I lived on L.I., I just let the clover and the crabgrass take over. I owned an electric mower and would cut every 2 weeks. I never watered, Mother Nature provided the moisture . The “lawn” looked pretty good after cutting .
If we had a lack of rain, so what?
Damien
The generation of kids being born right now is righteously fucked. Already schools are having to shut down for “heat days,” and that’s just right now. NOAA says we’ve hit more CO2 in the atmosphere than anytime in the last few MILLION YEARS. Even if we went from zero to a hundred right now, locked in climate change is going to so radically alter our lives in the next few decades that it’s gonna make COVID look like a shift in coffee break schedule in comparison, and we all know that short-sighted morons aren’t gonna go to a hundred until they’re forced to.
Every person having a child these days needs to have their head examined, cause either you can’t see what’s coming and you’re blind, or you can see what’s coming and choose to go for it anyway, in which case you’re a monster.
sab
@Pete Mack: Roundup is rather dangerous: lymphoma and parkinsons. EU has banned it.
ceece
Doug Tallamy has a number of talks up on YouTube about restoring a natural balance in your yard by planting the local trees that birds and caterpillars like, and shrinking your lawn. Usually the best trees in most areas are oaks or willows, but you can check your zip code on native plant finder
My lawn in CA has been gone for a few years now, with perennials and mulch and some veggies in raised beds. I still probably use more water on it than I should, but it is great for the bees.
sab
@Anotherlurker: Agree. Grass is not the best groundcover. Plantains, dandelions, clover, veronica work as well or better. Shorter, and more drought resistant. Stay green all summer without watering. Who says a lawn must be grass?
Nukular Biskits
“Al Gore is fat …”
Damn, I wish I could find that post again.
satby
I’ve been reducing my lawn with periphery plantings of native shrubs and perennial flowers. I’ve cut the grass coverage by a third; as the peripheral plants grow it will eventually be about half of the former lawn. I do water those until they’re well established, but never the lawn. Don’t pay attention to what weeds take over in the lawn either, the city doesn’t care as long as it’s kept trimmed below 6 inches or so. Which is fine for me, because I’m not a fan of ticks, which are almost as abundant as water here.
So many people my age beat feet to Arizona or Florida to escape the winter cold. But the winters get milder every year on the whole and there’s abundant fresh water in the Great Lakes region, which includes thousands of smaller lakes. I’ll never leave.
Ken
“Find Ms. Fawn” isn’t as much of a challenge as “Find Mr. Frog”.
Rachel Bakes
@sab: Exactly. We’ve started completely ignoring about 1/4 of our “yard” to be a wildlife corridor from the state park behind us through to other wild areas. Most of the grass is now clover, violets, dandelions and miscellaneous other green things but not grass and definitely not monoculture. And we mow it 4 times a mowing season, usually. Replacing invasive with natives has been the project this spring. Fortunately none of our neighbors have a clear view of our property or don’t care.
jonas
“After making his comments, it was announced that Ferry would face a rival in the upcoming GOP primary who blames “all the drug-smuggling illegals and dress-wearing perverts in the schools” for the drought and vowed to use a combination of compulsory prayer and shooting various assault weapons into the air to restore the lake. He is projected to win with over 80% of the district’s vote…”
Rachel Bakes
@sab: Exactly. We’ve started completely ignoring about 1/4 of our “yard” to be a wildlife corridor from the state park behind us through to other wild areas. Most of the grass is now clover, violets, dandelions and miscellaneous other green things but not grass and definitely not monoculture. And we mow it 4 times a mowing season, usually. Replacing invasive with natives has been the project this spring. Fortunately none of our neighbors have a clear view of our property or don’t care.
@ceece: I saw him speak several years ago! Great speaker and a great writer-makes you feel like you can do something and why the little things can have a big impact. We canceled our tick and mosquito spraying thr day I heard him and started seeing more caterpillars within a month.
jonas
@sab: There’s no evidence that occasional use of roundup or similar herbicide in your flowerbed or lawn is dangerous. The people who got sick were people exposed routinely to industrial quantities on the job, from spraying in agricultural fields, etc.
Spanish Moss
Over the course of about ten years we converted most of our lawn to low-maintenance perennials. The only part left is the area over our septic tank, which we use for badminton and croquet. That “lawn” is more weeds and wildflowers than grass, and is small enough to be mowed with a manual mower. We do no fertilizing or watering, and we mow just a few times over the course of the summer. It’s as close to zero maintenance as you can get and still have a badminton court.
We live in MA and our yard is mostly partial shade. We planted mostly shrubs, small trees, and plants that spread naturally. Winterberry, holly, rhododendron, hydrangea, lilac, butterfly bush, andromeda, water spirea, bee balm, peony, joe pye weed, vinca, ajuga.
Mousebumples
We have a bunch of dandelions in our yard, and we embrace No Mow May. I’ve been steadily adding more and more trees to the yard (*which do need some watering after transplanting to encourage the roots along), to cut down on what needs to be mowed.
I’d love to get some geothermal power generators installed, but don’t have tons of free time to dig into it. On my eventual to do list, though.
Gvg
I disagree. First we are doing things to combat climate change. Not enough and as soon as we do something it gets taken for granted and denigrated as not enough which discourages further actions, so be careful there. Every electric car, solar roof and recycling does help. Don’t forget.
Second, about lawns. The whole country doesn’t have the same situation. Florida gets a lot of rain, heat and sun. Plants grow fast here except in winter. This means not mowing or trimming results in a hot humid jungle in just one year. Saplings at 6 feet and vines with thorns. The air flow is restricted, mosquitoes and mold thrive. Your house siding can rot quickly if you don’t keep the shrubbery trimmed back. Climate change for us actually predicts more rain. Rising seas mean more storms. Lawns prevent erosion and limit weeds by competing and covering ground. Weeds here mean something 6 feet tall in a month with poisonous berries for example. I am not that fond of lawns but I know a lot about plants and natives. I like variety and like studying information on plants. I am gradually getting rid of my lawn, but I am not a typical homeowner. My neighbors vary. Many clearly don’t know much about gardening nor care. It would be a frustrating time sink to try to force them to grow something else. Here in sunny areas, a lawn is not a horrible thing. Educating them not to waste effort on lawns in shade would be a better choice. That is not to say there aren’t better choices for sun if they are willing to be encouraged. The gun nuts like to rhapsodize about forcing everyone to own a gun, and I roll my eyes. Forcing everyone to know a lot about local plants is the same tyranny and just wouldn’t work.
Different areas need to make different choices. Mandating everyone everywhere do the same thing is not actually ecologically sound. It is impossible to force most people who are busy and not hobbyists or professional to make sophisticated choices. Each area needs to make simplistic choices easily available to the masses, like succulent lawns in dry areas.
Soprano2
Our yard is whatever grows there. As long as we keep it trimmed short enough no one cares. We never water it, that would be a waste. If it dries up in August who cares?
Leenie
We have also been gradually expanding our native plant beds, reducing the amount of grass in our backyard. (But we keep some grassy areas so the grandkids can run around.) By the way, cardboard is an excellent alternative to plastic for covering up areas of the yard that you want to reclaim for native plants. If anyone lives in or near Nashville, TN, there’s a GREAT local grassroots group, Second Sunday Gardeners, that meets monthly (on the 2nd Sunday of the month!) and is committed to helping residents learn how and what to plant to attract pollinators. And they offer lots of freebies!
Pittsburgh Mike
7 of the top 10 biggest US cities are in CA, TX or AZ.
BellyCat
@Gvg: Well said. Any maps out there that show areas that can / can not support grass for lawns (with or without watering)?
I live in Cole’s neck of the woods and there is generally a LOT of rain. Not a “lawn person”, myself, but the alternative is mosquito havens around your house.
BellyCat
@Soprano2: On the same program. Kiddo loves blowing the dandelions if (read: when) mowing gets delayed!
Bobby Thomson
We border open space and technically don’t even own much property beyond the house, which the HOA pays to mow. I’ve been adding to the forest edge little by little every year but the deer have their own thoughts.
Wanderer
I live in a condo and “own” no yard but my unit had a garden planted by a prior owner and no one seems to mind that I have planted it. Selected drought/heat tolerant plants that attract pollinators. Amazingly enough there are many varieties which visit daily. The only species I have yet to see this year is the honey bee.
dyspeptic
You forgot about the constant noise from mowers and leaf blowers. I committed and tore up my lawn. (Chicago climate) It has taken a few years. I get constant compliments on it though the garden club won’t have me because of the unforgivable sin of pachysandras. Grass is a relentless weed. The best way to do it is to put cardboard or burlap (both better) on the lawn when weather is warm – late summer – and leave over the winter. Then by the spring you can plant. Plant bulbs that naturalize like mascari, iris, allium, etc. so the look changes thru spring and summer. Try ground cover like lamium , vinca and wintercreeper (contained/limited areas only). Certain things like Sedums are low maintenance and slow growers, covering areas. Leave leaves on the ground for pollinators and fertilizer and because your leaves will blown onto your neighbors lawns all fall and winter long, trolling them.
Michael Cain
For what it’s worth, Utah passed a number of water law changes earlier this year that will deliver considerable additional water into the GSL.
Western states have been told for decades that they may not restrict in-migration, nor may they require developers to demonstrate where the water their development will consume is going to come from. So even the ones that care aren’t allowed to do much.
trollhattan
Dead thread but want to add we took our our lawn four years ago, joining a couple other “weirdos” who had pioneered it. Now at least in our neighborhood laws are what look out of place.
Even if we’re a city sited on two rivers, CA water is famously variable–literal drought to flood and back, there is no normal–and landscaping is by far the largest residential water user. The day I gave away the Toro felt so liberating. My grass allergies also thank me.
Another Scott
@dyspeptic: Your last bit is making my eye twitch.
There’s a giant magnolia right across the street. It drops giant waxy leaves all the time. The neighbor just rakes them in a pile under the tree. When there’s any breeze at all, they get blown into my street gutter and yard and sit there. It takes about 5 years for them to decay, and they block light and water, encouraging bare spots…
It’s the perfect tree for passive aggressive neighbors! That and sweetgum with its prickly seed balls that dig into the yard! And willow oak that has little narrow leaves that don’t rake up very well!
[ Twitch, Twitch ]
Cheers,
Scott.
Sis
He’s defacing the flag!
Kristine
@Leto:
I was so happy when a pair of house finches built a nest in the space between one of the garage lights and the siding. I watched Mom sit on the nest over the course of a few days and was looking forward to the babies. Then one morning I glanced out and spotted a crow pecking at the nest–I spooked it and it flew off with eggshell in its beak. Later, I found the empty nest on the ground. I usually love crows but maybe not so much that day.
trollhattan
@Another Scott: Both very popular hereabouts. The magnolias produce ready-made hand grenades for boys to commence war with and the liquid ambers produce those porcupine balls so popular for rolling ankles on.
Not a fan.
trollhattan
@Kristine: First time ever, we had black phoebes nest under the neighbor’s eaves and the parents were tireless scooping bugs from our backyard skies to feed the hungry fledglings. They all vanished last Friday and I hope the little guys are in some tree getting flying lessons. Got some great pics of dad, sitting on the fence holding a moth.
Tireless pest control!
Aurona
In Seattle, I’ve used cardboard (with all gluey tags taken off), flattened, as my first start of getting rid of grass. You don’t have to dig out your grass because there are good critters there for aerating. Next: 3 inches of good soil/and compost and do nothing. That’s it. No digging. I started with patches in the back yard ( 3′ x 3′, etc.) and now, I have pathways for native plants, gravel, rocks and the birds love it (butterflies, hummers, etc.). Then you can think about native plants in your area. Do a 70% natives/30% “the swells” and native insects/critters will stay, possibly year round. Good luck!
Interstadial
The problem is not grass. The problem is lawn grass, bred optimally for living in manicured lawns, and grown as a mowed, fertilized, sprayed, watered lawn.
In nearly all parts of the country there are native grasses (and sedges, too) adapted to the local climate. These can, once established, subsist on natural rainfall. Mowing is optional and in any case can be very occasional. The goal can be more of a meadow appearance.
Sod-forming prairie grasses (typical in the eastern half to two-thirds of the country) will tend to keep out weeds once they’re well established, and you can add native prairie flowers for variety. In most of the west bunchgrasses are more common. They’re not as good at keeping out weeds but you can mulch or grow other species in between the clumps of grass. If you divide the clumps of grass when planting them you can plant a lot closer together at a reasonable cost, or you can plant from 4″ pots instead of 1-gallons (start off with more but smaller plants and they will fill in better).
The grasses you see on hillsides in most of California (where I live) are not native. They’re invasive annuals that dry out for half the year and present a fire hazard. The native bunchgrasses stay green for more of the year because they tap into deep soil moisture the annuals can’t reach.
In summer-dry climates people may want to apply some water in summer to keep the grasses looking better and to minimize fire danger. but it can be in the form of very occasional deep watering. Like once every 2-4 weeks rather than three times a week for a lawn in a hot climate.
Regarding trees, willows of any species are not usually a good choice for a garden because they have very aggressive roots. They are certainly not a good choice in the western half of the country where climates are drier, unless you’re planting them along a stream or in some other wet spot.
TriassicSands
When will we learn? Obviously, never.
I know what you’re saying, John, but it is important for people to do the right thing even if it won’t change the outcome. Each of us is responsible for how we live as individuals. It’s too easy to say, no one else cares, so why should I? You should and I should because we know better.
I want to die knowing I did the best I could, not giving in to the hopelessness of the human race. I always include environmental considerations in all of my decisions. If I had more money, I could do more.
StringOnAStick
At our last home, the first thing I did was remove the lawn and plant a xeriscape; the groundcover manzanita did a great job and I got lots of compliments from people passing by.
We moved to a new state, same dry climate. I removed the backyard grass last year, built raised borders with freely available basalt blocks, added and improved the soil, and fully planted it this spring with 1/3 things I grew from seed (24 echinaceas, and other plants), 1/3 from the local native plant nursery, and 1/3 from my favorite online xeriscape plant provider. We’ve had a cool, wet spring and things are growing like crazy.
Next week the professionals show up to remove the front lawn and make it a xeriscape (I ran out of energy and my back isn’t as young as it used to be). I can’t wait; this guy is a genius with native plants and that’s entirely what will be used. This is a emerald green lawn neighborhood and the noise from lawn services is nearly every day. We won’t be popular with some of the lawn folks after the final transformation, but we don’t care; water is too precious here to be dumped on lawns. It takes 30″ of irrigation a year here to keep a lawn going; I refuse to participate. I worry a bit about the money it is going to cost to do the front yard given that we are retired and might need that money to get through the coming Christianist wars and climate change, but at mid 60’s I’m hoping to be done with life before it gets to Mad Max levels.
dnfree
This song (as sung by Peter, Paul and Mary) is obligatory given the title of the post, even though the topic is different.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZgXNVA9ngx8
dnfree
Not lawn-related, but we put in solar panels last year (northern Illinois) and it has cut our electricity costs. Even with the government tax credits, it won’t pay for itself in our remaining lifetimes, but it’s an investment in the future, or so we hope.
bupalos
I really don’t understand the impetus behind these kinds of binary statements. I see them all the time, and frequently, as here, paired with a contradictory statement that while we “aren’t going to do anything about climate change,” and it’s all over…. well, “here’s some things we could do about climate change, but aren’t going to.”
This isn’t a binary. Yes we are already in for major damage and already seeing it today. But there is no real top end on this. Nothing is determined including survival of the species. And the question is going to be open for the next 100 years, and every action we do or don’t take, now, tomorrow, in a year, in 20 years, in 40 years…. is going to change the final equation. It’s going to change the equation on how human and humane the next generation is allowed to be.
This binary and increasingly static way of thinking about it is a major part of the problem. It’s been a decade since I first heard the sentiment that it can’t be stopped and is “too late.” This doesn’t mean anything. No one knows the future and it is still up to us. The future can be great, it can be terrible, it can be (in human terms) nonexistent. This is all up to us. Now. Tomorrow. In 10 years. There are lots of choices that we individuals can make now. “We aren’t going to do anything but here’s things we aren’t going to do” is, to my ears, both paralyzing and self-excusing.
cain
Look – just give corporations a tax cut – it’ll get fixed.
azlib
People really like grass here in AZ. I am trying to do my part, but my HOA just said I cannot use artificial turf to replace my mostly grass front yard. They are doing this even though the AZ legislature just passed a bill prohibiting HOAs from not allowing artificial turf as a landscape material.
My front yard plans are to reduce the ornamental turf area and plant more drought resistant plants and only have drip irrigation. I predict my water usage will go down 70%. Unfortunately, I am having to appeal the HOA denial to the State Real Estate Department. About 1/3 of my neighbors agree with me, but the Board is dug in. I am hoping my appeal will slap them down hard.
Here in AZ we have had almost daily stories about the long term drought and the levels in Lake Powell and Lake Mead. I am befuddled that my HOA Board does not see the necessity of getting rid of the grass which takes an enormous about of water to keep green and wastes a lot of water because of runoff into our streets. We are about to enter more restrictive water conservation measures as Mead and Powell continue to shrink. Powell is so low they might not be able to run the hydro generators in the near future since the lake level will be below the intake tunnels.