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Fresno mulls buying back lawns to save water

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on September 29, 2008 at 8:48 am

From the Belleville News Democrat (in Illinois-?), a story about Fresno, California, which means it must be a slow day for news in Illinois:

Would you sell your lawn to the city to save water and cut your utility bill? Would you buy a house with no lawn or with only water-stingy native plants? Both are possibilities as Fresno, Calif., officials look at ways to conserve water as the city grows. Those ideas, along with more traditional conservation methods, are part of an Urban Water Management Plan approved by the City Council last month.

The plan outlines conservation goals for the city and offers ideas to attain those goals - such as lawn buy-backs.

It doesn’t detail how some of those ideas would work. But the plan “shows us where we are, and where we’re headed,” said Garth Gaddy, Fresno’s assistant director of public utilities.

The plan, which took several years to write, looks at current water usage in Fresno and predicts how growth will affect water resources through 2030, when the city’s population is expected to reach at least 760,000. A second plan - the Metropolitan Water Resources Management Plan - looks even further, forecasting Fresno’s water needs through 2060.

There is no penalty if the city doesn’t follow its plan. But homeowners will see higher water bills if they choose to not conserve after meters are installed citywide by 2013, Gaddy said. Unlike most California cities, Fresno does not charge homeowners for the volume of water they use; an agreement with the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, however, requires the city to begin charging a metered rate by 2010.

“We’re offering a lot of carrots with incentives and different programs,” Gaddy said. “But that water bill will be the only stick.”

Read more from the Belleville News Democrat by clicking here.

September 29, 2008 · Filed Under Conservation

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