I was stunned to read “Lawn irrigation makes up 70% of the city’s water use” (Herald, April 11). Wait. What? Seventy percent? Durango has been in a megadrought for 25 years and we’re still using 70% of our municipal water supply on – grass?
Beautiful green spaces are essential to human well-being, but there are many ways to create these rejuvenating places without an overemphasis on lawn. A growing movement is underway across the country called “Shrink the Lawn.” This concept promotes gradually removing about 50% of the grass in our collective landscaping and replacing it with native flowers, shrubs and trees. Colorado native plants require very little water. They provide much-needed habitat for our declining populations of native pollinators and birds, few of which (besides robins!) find food or shelter in large areas of grass.
Grass also needs to be fertilized, and runoff from lawn fertilizers enters our waterways, causing toxic algal blooms and fish kills when it eventually reaches the sea. And, alas, grass must be mowed. Gasoline-powered lawn mowers burn 600 to 800 million gallons of gasoline every year and emit over 30 million tons of carbon dioxide and other toxic, carcinogenic pollutants.
Stop by the library for ideas on how to shrink the lawn and replace it with beautiful native landscaping. By doing this you can help conserve our critical water resources, improve air and water quality – and spend less time pushing around that lawnmower on your precious days off.
Mary Grizzard
Durango