HENDERSON (KTNV) — The Southern Nevada Water Authority (SNWA) is currently offering rebates to replace water-thirsty grass with desert landscaping and now the City of Henderson will supplement it, giving more money to those business owners that do it.
Ornamental grass may look pretty at business plazas, shopping centers, homeowners associations, and apartment complexes, but it’s taking a big chunk of our water resources.
“Non-functional turf, this decorative turf that we see throughout the valley, it consumes 10% of our total water supply every single year. Now, compare that to the Strip and all the hotels and casinos that we have here in Southern Nevada, they consume 4%, “said Bronson Mack, SNWA spokesperson.
That’s why SNWA currently offers rebates at $3 per square foot for the first 10,000 square feet converted. Landscape conversions of more than 10,000 square feet will receive $1.50 per square foot up to $500,000.
The City of Henderson is supplementing SNWA’s cash incentive with $1.50 per square foot for local businesses. Parcels that have a large amount of turf in a public-facing right of way that choose to convert to Water Smart Landscape can now receive $3 per square foot up to 40,000 square feet.
Which means, thousands of dollars more for replacing grass.
If money is not enough, maybe the law could be. Gov. Steve Sisolak recently signed AB 356, which gives commercial owners five years to replace it, but the current cash incentives, most likely, won't last that long.
“You don't want to wait until the last minute because you might be scrambling trying to fins, architectures, landscapers to do it," said Tina Chen, the City of Henderson Conservation and Customer Care Supervisor.
This incentive is valid for non-single-family properties that have large amounts of grass along a public right of way. These include businesses - commercial and industrial, homeowner associations, multi-family residences including condos and apartments, churches and schools.
For more information about this cash incentive in Henderson, including qualification details, visit cityofhenderson.com..
