As water continues to be a focus in the Utah Legislature, Spanish Fork Sen. Mike McKell is seeking to create a new incentive program to encourage water-efficient landscaping for new residential construction.

The potential incentive program would allow residential owners or developers of new construction to secure grants for water-efficient landscaping. The incentives would be available for projects within the Great Salt Lake Basin.

“We were looking at how we preserve water on the front end with some xeriscape,” McKell told a House Committee on Thursday, clarifying that he doesn’t mean zero grass or turf.

During the bill’s presentation to a House committee on Thursday, Chris Gamvroulas, president of Ivory Development, presented the bill with McKell and discussed his company’s work in utilizing water-efficient landscaping for residential development.

Gamvroulas said Ivory Development has worked with water districts in Utah to help cover additional costs for water-wise landscaping.

He said they’ve had 2,700 homeowners voluntarily opt for water-efficient landscaping and they have calculated that this has conserved approximately 150 million gallons of water per year.

Division of Water Resources Director Joel Ferry also spoke in favor of the bill, adding that when water-efficient landscaping is done “upfront,” the cost is less.

“When we do it upfront and we do it right, it’s less disruptive, saves a lot of money, saves a lot of time, saves a lot of effort and is a better way to perform these tasks,” Ferry told the committee.

Ferry noted the population growth that Utah has been experiencing, saying that “we’re going to run out (of water) if we’re not smart about how we grow.”

The DWR would be given the authority to create rules and guidelines regarding the program and provide grants to water conservancy districts that will administer the incentive to a project.

The bill states an applicant for the program would need to maintain “water-efficient landscaping and a drip irrigation system” within the project area.

As of now, the legislation’s fiscal impact for 2025 would be about $1 million of one-time funding.

Utah’s first Great Salt Lake strategic plan, which was released at the beginning of this year, discusses water-efficient landscaping as a water conservation method that would benefit the shrinking Great Salt Lake.

According to the strategic plan, 60% of residential water in Utah goes to outdoor irrigation.

During the committee, Rep. Tim Jimenez, R-Tooele, questioned why taxpayer money should be used on new construction, saying landscaping costs could be worked into building costs, instead of incentivizing existing homes to switch to more water-wise landscaping.

Gamvroulas explained that doing this upfront is more efficient and saves time for homeowners, as they don’t have to figure it out on their own at a later time.

“And when you do it upfront, and you incentivize it to be done, then it’s much more efficient,” he said.

Rep. Keven Stratton, R-Orem, pointed out that the bill doesn’t define “water-efficient landscaping” and suggested that’s something that may need to be revisited.

McKell clarified that, for his bill, he’s allowing for the DWR to come up with the guidelines for what defines water-efficient landscaping under the scope of the incentive program as that department would have the expertise on the subject.

With about five more days left in the legislative session, the bill has passed through the Senate, with Thursday’s House committee passing it 9-1. It still needs to move through the full House.

McKell is also the Senate sponsor for a joint resolution to encourage municipalities, especially ones within the Great Salt Lake Basin, to adopt water efficiency standards for new construction.

The resolution has passed the House and is currently being considered in the Senate.

Newsletter