AN IN-DEPTH INVESTIGATION OF XERISCAPE AS A WATER CONSERVATION MEASURE

The Las Vegas Valley in southern Nevada receives only an average of 45 mm. of annual precipitation, has a yearly evapotranspirational water requirement of nearly 90 mm., and is one of the fastest growing metropolitan areas in the United States. Like most desert cities in the southwestern United States, typically 60–90% of all water use by single-family residences is for landscape irrigation. The Southern Nevada Water Authority partnered with the US Bureau of Reclamation to fund a five-year study of the economic and conservation effects of converting turf landscapes to low-water-use XeriscapeTM.