El Paso, other cities eating....make that drinking our water via Xeriscaping

Common sense landscaping? Not in Laredo, you don't!

Our never-creative city leaders have failed to even consider substantive, common sense approaches to deal with the ever-present water availability problem in the Gateway City. The best they can come up with is :stage 3 water restrictions and 500 bucks in fine for any resident watering when not authorized to do so. It's high time that someone with some brains took the initiative and do something-anything.

They probably don't "outlaw" water-heavy St. Agustine grass because someone, somewhere would loose some business. I say: Just sell a different, more water-friendly strain of grass. The bad thing is that if we, as citizens, would start pushing for such a change (not everyone at the same time), the only thing that might happen would be that someone would get paid off for voting against something so reasonable.

From The Associate Press-as appearing in LMT

EL PASO — For decades this city in far West Texas defied the look of most desert communities, with

neighborhoods boasting lush, green lawns and residents freely running their sprinklers.

Then a study released in 1979 showed just how close El Paso was to a crisis: At its rate of water use, the

city would run dry within 36 years.Over the next couple of decades, the city took drastic measures to stabilize its water supply, undergoing a philosophical and physical face lift that included ripping up grass from many public places, installing rock and cactus gardens and offering financial incentives for residents to do

the same.

Today, El Paso is among the few cities in the drought-stricken state not worrying about water. It’s a distinction El Paso leaders attribute to a conservation plan that other cities in less arid climates such as San Antonio and Austin have tried to a limited extent amid receding water resources and booming population growth.

But even in El Paso, the changes have been a tough sell for some residents who cherish their lawns and

have bypassed financial incentives to rip them out. “In school, when they told us to draw a house, you would always draw it with grass,” said Fred Fierro, 75, who wakes up early to water his turf with his wife.