Away with useless grass!

Scanning The Nevada Independent, this wonderful ad popped up:

Since most readers here aren't located in Nevada, I've broken the link to the landscape company that placed it. Sorry if you wanted their services -- but you can probably find it.

The ad makes me jump for joy. 

The state of Nevada makes no sense as a population center. It's a desert, for goodness sake. 

Yet the Las Vegas area has been growing for years. And the city has been drawing its water from the Colorado River by way of artificial Lake Mead for decades. Because of the long running western drought, Lake Mead is currently at its lowest level ever. 

Now Las Vegas is actually somewhat better at water conservation than you might think. All those attractive fountains around casinos use recycled water quite efficiently. 

But in 2021 the Nevada legislature took what residents of many U.S. locales might consider a drastic step to reduce water waste. They moved to outlaw "useless grass" in many settings. 

LAS VEGAS—Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak has signed into law a bill supported by the Southern Nevada Water Authority that requires the removal of “useless,” or purely decorative, grass throughout the Las Vegas Valley by the end of 2026. ...

The law does not apply to grass in homeowners’ yards, or to grass used for recreation at schools and parks.

... Nonfunctional turf is grass that no one uses for sports, picnics, or other recreational activities. Some areas of nonfunctional turf are simply narrow strips grass bordering parking lots, walkways, and sidewalks. These narrow areas of purely decorative grass create significant amounts of sprinkler overspray and water waste.

Other examples of nonfunctional turf are found along streets between the curb and sidewalk; in traffic circles and medians; in landscaping at office parks and commercial properties, and at entryways for housing developments.

If the only person that uses the grass is pushing a lawn mower, it is nonfunctional.

So, happily, enterprising businesses are seeking to profit off helping landowners come into compliance.

And Nevada is setting a pattern that most regions will have to adopt as the earth warms. Unused expanses of green grass will become a luxury. Let's do it voluntarily before we're forced by necessity. We can learn to appreciate alternatives.