SNWA enhances Water Smart Landscapes rebate for 2008

Beginning Jan. 1, 2008, all community residents and businesses who qualify for the Southern Nevada Water Authority's (SNWA) Water Smart Landscapes (WSL) Rebate Program will receive $1.50 for each square foot of grass they replace with water-efficient landscaping, no matter the size of their conversion.

The SNWA Board of Directors approved the new incentive levels Dec. 6, 2007 as a way to continue achieving the community's long-range water conservation goals. In 2007, qualifying Southern Nevada residents and businesses received $2 per square foot of turf converted, up to 1,500 square feet, and $1 for each additional square foot.

"The new program structure is designed to sustain appeal for small projects, but dramatically increase the appeal for large projects," said SNWA Conservation Manager Doug Bennett. "We expect that this structure will actually boost total square footage in 2008 even beyond our 2007 conversion totals."

Thanks in large part to the increased incentive in 2007, the community to date this year has converted more than 19.5 million square feet of grass to water-efficient landscaping – the second-highest annual total since the WSL's launch in 1999 and more than doubling the 2006 total. The program reached its peak in 2004, when residents and businesses converted more than 34 million square feet of grass.

Under the terms of the revised rebate structure, property owners who submit their applications in 2007, but complete their projects in 2008, will have the rebate calculated at whichever rate is most advantageous to the client. Thus, all property owners considering a conversion are encouraged to apply to the program before the end of this year.

Since the WSL program's inception, community residents and businesses have converted more than 100 million square feet of grass to water-smart landscaping, saving more than 18 billion gallons of water. The amount of grass converted is equivalent to an 18-inch roll of sod stretching nearly halfway around the world at the equator.

Thanks in large part to the WSL program, Southern Nevadans consumed 15 billion gallons less water in 2007 than in 2002, despite the addition of 400,000 residents during that span and more than 40 million visitors in 2007.

The WSL program is just one of several conservation incentive programs the SNWA offers in the community. Other programs offer rebates for pool covers, "smart" irrigation controllers that automatically adjust watering schedules and rain sensors that shut down irrigation systems during and after rainstorms.