KAYSVILLE, Utah — One of the many water conservation programs across the state is the Landscape Lawn Exchange Program, where Davis County residents who have already taken part are urging others to see if they qualify.
“We’re a lot more thoughtful about the places we did want grass," said Kaysville resident Jason Jones.
When Jones moved to Kaysville from Washington state, he knew he wanted to do his part.
"With the Great Salt Lake drying up, I really felt like, 'Hey, we need to do something,'" he said.
A couple of years ago, Jones joined the Landscape Lawn Exchange Program run by the Weber Basin Water Conservancy District. It’s an incentive to remove lawns and replace them with ornamental plants, water-efficient materials, and drip irrigation.
“Our landscapes take a tremendous amount of water when we’re talking about our residential use. The typical household in our water use are probably using 60% to 70% of their total water use for the year on their yard," explained Jonathan Parry, Assistant GM of the district.
Parry said the program used to be just for cities in their service area that had adopted water-efficient landscape ordinances, and they received $2.50 per square foot. Now, the program is offered at $1.25 per square foot for the cities in their service area without those standards.
“It’s not uncommon to have people using 80, 90, 100 thousand gallons a month just for their outdoor irrigation," Parry said. "So that’s what we’re talking about. You’re going to save massive amounts of water when you skip an irrigation cycle.
"When you change your landscape to become more efficient and climate adaptive to what we live in.”
Parry added that the district has already received over 100 applications, and they’ll accept as many qualified applicants as their budget allows.
Residents like Jones are helping their neighbors make the change, too, and he says he’s already seen the impact. While he says it may be more work, it’s worth it to help the environment.
“I can’t refill the Great Salt Lake just from my own yard, so it takes everybody to do just a little bit," he said, "and if we all pulled out park strips and maybe a little bit more, we could refill the Great Salt Lake in 15 years.”
Anyone considering removing their lawn must have their application approved by the Weber Basin Water Conservancy District.
