Water Resources Professional Project Reports

Document Type

Report

Publication Date

Spring 2025

Abstract

With increasing water scarcity concerns threatening water supplies, many cities in the Western U.S. are focusing more effort on their water conservation programs to reduce consumptive water use. The Albuquerque Bernalillo County Water Utility Authority (Water Authority) in Bernalillo County, NM has had several water conservation programs in place since the 1990s, and still, they aim to further reduce water consumption. The Xeriscape Conversion Rebate Program is one of the primary tools to achieve this goal, encouraging customers to convert their high water-use turfgrass lawns to desert-friendly xeriscaping by providing a one-time rebate on their water bill. This rebate program has several goals including reducing consumptive water use, mitigating the urban heat island effect, increasing biodiversity, among others. This report begins the evaluation of the xeriscape rebate program’s goals with the criteria of effectiveness, equity, and impacts by conducting a spatial and socio-economic analysis over the last ten years (2013 - 2023). The xeriscape conversion rebate program has been found to be effective in its goal to reduce water consumption, by saving 3 billion gallons of water per year. The program has had little impact on the overall greenness of the region between 2013 and 2023, with the average greenness value staying the same over time and very little spatial change in greenness. There are significant equity disparities in the xeriscape program - the majority of the conversions have been completed in areas of high income (defined as a median annual household income of $69,471 or above) and where the population is majority white race. The benefits of the program (rebates) are not being distributed equally if the conversions are concentrated in certain areas of the region. This distribution has complicating factors, though, which are further discussed. These findings can help the Water Authority understand the greater impacts of its Xeriscape Conversion Rebate Program on greenness and equity, and hopefully help to make the program more equitable in the future.

Keywords

water conservation, Water Authority, Xeriscape Conversion Rebate Program

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