Gilbert offering cash for grass-less yards

Jul. 17—Gilbert is offering up to $800 to homeowners willing to uproot their water-guzzling lawns and replace them with drought-tolerant plants and trees.

According to the Town, which just launched the rebate program, converting to water-wise landscaping can reduce a household's outdoor water use by half or more.

Town officials made an initial allocation of $60,000 for residential grass removal projects and $15,000 for non-residential grass removal projects, according to spokeswoman Kelsey Perry. All projects must receive pre-approval before beginning to qualify for a rebate consideration.

Businesses, HOAs and other non-residential customers could receive up to $3,000 for removing their turf.

Residents on social media for the most part welcomed the program.

But some did not, including one man who wrote, "Maybe stop building massive apartment complexes, putting 40 houses on an acre of land and approving all of the tech-based businesses that require thousands of gallons of water a day to cool their servers."

On average, each Arizona resident uses about 146 gallons of water each day, the state Department of Water Resources says. The bulk, or 70%, of a household's water use goes for outdoor activities such as watering plants, swimming pools and washing cars, the state agency says.

Gilbert's voluntary measure to save water is far less draconian than what city leaders in Scottsdale instituted — a ban on front-yard grass in new single-family homes built or permitted after Aug. 15.

Gilbert's rebate program is the latest step in Stage 1 of its four-stage water management plan, which it rolled out in summer 2022.

Stage 1 focuses on education and calls on the public to voluntarily conserve while the town increases its efforts to reduce municipal water use.

The Town also initiated a smart irrigation control rebate program last September that gives up to $250 to households that install a smart controller and up to $400 for non-residential water customers. The budget for that rebate program was $45,000.

The program "has been very successful since its launch," Perry said. "As of July 11, Gilbert has approved 194 smart irrigation controller rebates — 192 for residential customers and two for non-residential customers."

She said the reason why few requests for rebates come from non-residential customers is that many HOAs in town already use smart controllers and that the program requires all new non-residential developments to install a smart irrigation controller.

Officials have budgeted $120,000 for all its rebate programs, Perry said, adding that the funding for each program may change year to year, based on their popularity.

Some of the other conservation resources for the public include a free commercial water efficiency check-up, a landscape water budgeting program and an E-newsletter with tips. Perry said 315 sites currently are participating in the water budget program and that the Town has completed 358 free check-ups for its commercial customers.

And as of July 11, the Town has 2,168 subscribers to its water conservation e-newsletter, according to Perry.

The Town also is doing its part to save water.

Perry said Gilbert has removed 220,925 square feet of grass so far at a number of locations ,such as Freestone Park.

"The Town has identified approximately 500,000 square feet of grass at eight other parks and facilities for potential removal," she said. "The Town has instituted several water-saving measures at Gilbert's parks and facilities.

"There has been no overseeding for Gilbert's parks and facilities since the winter of 2022. In addition, all of the Town's parks and facilities have smart irrigation controllers installed and are in the Waterfluence Water Wise Gilbert program."

She added that the Town completes water audits at all its parks and facilities throughout the year to ensure they are as water efficient as possible, with recommendations made if there are any areas that could be improved.

Conservation efforts in Gilbert in 2022 have saved 225 million gallons of water — 21 million from residential customers; 54 million from the town; 126 million from HOAs and apartments; 44 million from businesses, churches and schools and 27 million from new developments.

The Town also has an agreement in place since June with the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation to forego up to 1,200-acre feet of its share of Colorado River water in Lake Mead each year through 2025. According to Perry, Gilbert has long-term contracts and leases that amount to 27,041 acre-feet of Colorado River water each year.

In return Gilbert is receiving $400 per acre-foot for up to $480,000 per year, which it will use to help offset the cost of alternative renewable water supplies and the increasing cost of raw water supplies.

According to the Town, Gilbert has a diverse and resilient water resources portfolio consisting of surface water, reclaimed water, and groundwater — 29% of Colorado River water delivered through the Central Arizona Project, 29% SRP water; 23% groundwater, 15% reclaimed water and 4% comprising surface water.

The Town's conservation efforts are in response to the Colorado River drying up.

Since 2000 extreme drought and climate change have dropped the river to a dangerous level. Nearly 40 million Americans rely on the Colorado River system for drinking water and to support livelihoods ranging from farming to recreation, according to the U.S. Department of the Interior.

In May following intense negotiations, Arizona, California and Nevada agreed to take less water from the Colorado River — cut 3 million acre-feet of water through 2026. An acre-foot is the approximate volume of water needed to serve two homes in Gilbert per year.

Stage 2 of the town plan could include measures such as citing customers for excessive waste of water, further expansion of conservation programs and limiting municipal non-essential landscape watering.

"The activation of Stage 2 of Gilbert's Water Supply Reduction Plan will depend on the level of cuts that the Bureau of Reclamation declares for 2024," Perry said, adding that the official declaration typically occurs in August.

Perry said that the current projection indicated that the feds will likely declare a Tier 1 shortage on the Colorado River system for 2024.

"The river is currently operating in a Tier 2A shortage for 2023," she said, noting. "A Tier 1 shortage will not trigger the conditions for recommending activation of Stage 2 of our local water supply reduction plan."