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DENVER, CO – Bipartisan legislation sponsored by Representatives Dylan Roberts and Marc Catlin to incentivize water saving landscaping today passed the House Agriculture, Livestock & Water Committee by a unanimous vote.
“This bill is a win-win: it will help Coloradans save money on their water bill and it will help our state conserve our most valuable resource: our water,” said Rep. Dylan Roberts D-Avon. “This turf replacement program is a proactive approach to water conservation that we can all get behind. As we continue to face historic drought for years to come, we cannot rely solely on the agricultural industry for our water conservation goals, we need the whole state to step up. This bill gives our metro areas the tools to join our efforts to conserve our state's precious water.”
If passed, HB22-1151 would require the Colorado Water Conservation Board to develop a statewide program to financially incentivize property owners, including local governments, special districts and nonprofit associations, to voluntarily replace non-essential irrigated turf with water-wise landscaping. Water-wise landscaping includes replacement turf and drought-tolerant plants that require less water to grow. This bill aims to cut down on the amount of water used to maintain non-native grasses on private and commercial lawns, school fields and other ornamental outdoor spaces like road medians.
HB22-1151 would incentivize turf owners to voluntarily replace their traditional turf with drought-tolerant plants, shrubs, bushes and turf. This legislation is an effort to divert less water from rivers and reservoirs for the use of landscape watering.