OGDEN, Utah — For most Utahns, a suburban front yard starts with grass, and most of the state's universities follow the same idea. However, one Utah college is cutting their water use by cutting back on the grass.
Between the stairs at Weber State University used to be turf, now it’s xeriscape.
"There is a common misconception with xeriscaping that it’s going to look, lots of desert plants or all-rock, Las Vegas-looking, but that’s not really the case, " explained Drew Hodge, the school's water conservation officer. "I think you can find plants that have a low-water requirement that look really beautiful."
Zero-scaping is adding no water. At Weber State, it’s xeri.
The school still irrigates, but cut back water usage by 23 percent, or 26 million gallons per year, since Hodge was hired in 2016. They irrigate by night and check their sprinklers by day.
There are still acres of turf on the Weber State campus, but if it’s in a funny shape or people aren’t using it, Hodge is coming for it.
"These areas are going to be turning into xeriscape in the next year," said Hodge, pointing out an area that's already caught his eye. "It’s really difficult to irrigate these shapes of grass."
Hodge says faculty got the water-saving idea started, and student clubs volunteer to change turf for plants.
"If it’s done right, you’ll actually lower the amount of work you’re spending in your yard," Hodge said.
In his position, Hodge in on the design phase of buildings for water inside and out. He says administration is on board, but there's still some hold outs.
"We just need to make a shift to creating a landscape that fits our environment a little better," he explained, "and that doesn’t mean there’s no turf, it just means that where we put turf, it’s usable."
