When the Sundial Drive Homeowners Association (HOA) mulled the pros and cons of keeping its water-thirsty grass in 2020, the HOA board decided to survey its residents for input. The board had to decide whether to raise HOA fees to cover water and landscape maintenance costs or replace the turf with a water-efficient alternative. While some residents expressed strong support for keeping the grass, none of the residents wanted HOA fees to increase.
“We have a lot of homeowners from the Midwest, and they’re crazy about grass. But our residents don’t see the costs because the HOA pays the water bills,” said Carolyn Bruce, Sundial Drive HOA president. “When the conversion was done, most of the residents were on board and thought the change looked nice.”
The 44-home senior-living community in the northwest Las Vegas Valley already had replaced the grass in front yards a decade ago. The HOA board decided to upgrade the backyards in 2020 and applied for a cash incentive through the Southern Nevada Water Authority (SNWA) Water Smart Landscapes (WSL) rebate program. The WSL program offers a cash incentive of up to $3 per square foot of grass replaced with drip-irrigated plants and trees. (Some restrictions apply.)
The Sundial Drive HOA converted 35,000 square feet of turf in residential backyards, garnering a cash incentive of $68,000 and saving nearly 2 million gallons of water a year. In addition, the retirement community is in full compliance with a new Nevada law that essentially requires the replacement of decorative grass at commercial properties, government agencies, multifamily developments and homeowners association-managed areas by the end of 2026.
The law, Assembly Bill (AB) 356, is aimed at increasing water efficiency by prohibiting the use of water delivered by SNWA’s member agencies to irrigate decorative grass in streetscapes, medians, parking lots and other areas where it is used for aesthetics and not recreational purposes. When fully enacted, the law will save 9.5 billion gallons of water a year, which equates to about 10 percent of Southern Nevada’s water supply.
“Businesses and HOAs play an important role in protecting Southern Nevada’s water supply, which has been seriously threatened by more than 20 years of drought,” said J.C. Davis, SNWA Enterprise conservation manager. “Many HOAs have been reluctant to convert nonfunctional grass areas because they’re concerned about backlash from residents, but we know the majority of homeowners support their HOAs efforts to replace non-functional grass. The new law will give HOAs the impetus to upgrade areas with decorative grass and help protect our community’s water supply.”
Although the new law essentially requires nonfunctional turf removal, the SNWA continues to offer the WSL cash incentive to help cover the costs of replacing grass. While incentives are available, business owners, HOA boards and property managers may apply for the WSL rebate on snwa.com.
“There are a lot of property owners applying for these incentive dollars, so we’re urging everyone to begin the process earlier rather than later,” Davis said. He noted that the rebate applications from HOAs and commercial properties are increasing dramatically, which may drive up costs for plant materials and landscape installation services as the deadline to comply with the new law nears.
As part of its landscape upgrade efforts, the Sundial Drive HOA also updated its irrigation system. Bruce reported that the HOA has seen a “nice reduction” in monthly water bills and landscape maintenance costs.
“Everyone has been very happy with the results, and they’re also happy we didn’t raise our HOA dues,” Bruce said, adding the HOA board made the right decision.
Find out how you can reduce your business’ operating costs and take advantage of current cash incentives by contacting one of SNWA’s business experts at 702-862-3740 or by email at cashincentives@snwa.com.
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