Lawn watering and water cost - thread reboot (houses, landscaping)

[kletter1mann]

Thread reboot from my question about water ethos and attitudes. It was somewhat highjacked into a conversation about deserts in general. Untill this:

Originally Posted by kavm

kletter1mann -
I too am new to the area and am not informed about the relevant statistics. Your observations seem to be on the mark, but what is not clear is the supply side of the equation. If the water were in abundant supply, the water use issue is not of concern, otherwise it is. In our search for houses, we almost bought a place where the annual water bill was about $1300. So, people who use the water for lawn etc. do pay a price; whether that is high enough to discourage such use is a different matter. But, whether such use needs to be discouraged is not clear to me.

$1300 a year for water?????????????????????? Holy crap! Is that the norm? Most of the lots are postage stamps and lawns are relatively small. This is a shocker.

What's the local lawn life cycle if unwatered? Green in midspring, brown in late spring and summer (grass goes dormant) and then green again in fall? Or does the grass just die? By way of comparison I'm in a semi-rural area on a 2 acre lot that's mostly woods, but the lawn is about 1/4 acre. I never water. In a wet year it's green all the time unless there's snow on the ground. In a dry year it goes brown in late July & August.

And how do people generally feel about whacky, conserve-water neighbors with brown lawns or naturalized landscaping? Are there local ordinances on appearance that compel conformity or is it a per pressure thing?

[SouthernBelleInUtah]

Xeriscape landscaping is the "new thing." Former Mayor Rocky Anderson converted his entire yard a few years ago to set an example. Many people have gone with that trend. I planted mostly xeriscape plants but I still had grass in the middle. My 0.12 acre lot in Sugar House ran $45/mo. for water/sewer/garbage. I followed the city recommended watering cycles (3 x wk in summer) and my yard was lush.

[Chango]

Many cities and towns around here have secondary irrigation systems. I pay something like 80 bucks a year to keep my 1/3rd acre yard green and verdant.

Otherwise the "natural" unwatered yard becomes a dry weedy field, though there are plenty of people working for xeriscaping and using local plants in landscaping.

Check out the "Utah House" for a great example. http://theutahhouse.org/

[kletter1mann]

Perfect, thanks for the info.