ST. GEORGE, Utah — Washington County residents are increasingly replacing their natural lawns with artificial turf as part of a successful water conservation program that has already saved millions of gallons of water.
Devin Brady, who once struggled with maintaining his natural lawn in the Little Valley neighborhood, now has one of the nicest-looking yards on his street after switching to artificial turf.
"I had the worst-looking grass. I mean, I didn't know what I was doing wrong. I was watering it, you know. It never looked as good, had little patches and stuff. I was like, man, it takes a ton of water to keep this thing alive," Brady said.
The Brady family, who built their home 12 years ago, joined a growing neighborhood trend after seeing a neighbor make the switch to artificial turf.
"Well, I see more and more turf yards popping up. And we knew that we wanted to do something," Brady said.
The Washington County Water Conservancy reports that the area now matches Las Vegas in terms of properties replacing water-intensive grass yards with water-efficient landscaping on a per capita basis.
The conservation program pays property owners for each square foot of grass removed. Since 2023, approximately 3 million square feet of grass has been replaced throughout the St. George metropolitan area.
Doug Bennett, Conservation Manager for the Washington County Water District, previously led a similar program in Las Vegas for 20 years that helped the city cut its water use in half despite doubling its population.
"Well, it's about 2,300 projects that we've done so far. Those are saving 120 million gallons of water every single year," Bennett said. "I think we're getting a lot of peer influence and that's an important thing because it's part of the culture shift."
Ryan Jeffs, who started St. George Turf six years ago, acknowledges that installing artificial turf may cost around $9,000 – double the typical $4,500 installation of a real lawn. However, the long-term savings are substantial.
"But over a 20-year period, because most turf will last at least 20 years, it'll save you over $25,000. Because to maintain a lawn annually, you're gonna be just over two grand. To maintain an artificial lawn, you're around $250 to $300," Jeffs said.
The water bill savings are equally impressive for homeowners who make the switch.
"We just got our water bill and I showed my wife, because it's got that year over year comparison with last year... And it's dropped off like 80 or 90%. I'm not kidding. I mean, it's pretty incredible," Brady said.
The maintenance-free aspect is another major benefit for busy homeowners.
"I gave a neighbor my mower," Brady said.
