TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — The City of Tucson won a $1.5 Million grant to remove grass from city parks and replace it with landscaping that uses less water.
The city is not talking about removing turf altogether—just replacing part of it with desert landscaping that does not need nearly as much water.
The program is for non-functional turf—-grass that’s there just for looks. That means it would not affect places like natural grass playing fields.
So far the city has designated parts of three parks:
Ormsby, on the Westside, Mirasol in Midtown, and James Thomas on the Southside.
The State of Arizona’s Water Infrastructure Finance Authority awarded the grant to encourage water conservation.
The program will also devote money to helping commercial properties replace water hungry grass with desert landscaping.
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Craig Smith is a reporter for KGUN 9. With more than 40 years of reporting in cities like Tampa, Houston and Austin, Craig has covered more than 40 Space Shuttle launches and covered historic hurricanes like Katrina, Ivan, Andrew and Hugo. Share your story ideas and important issues with Craig by emailing craig.smith@kgun9.com or by connecting on Facebook and Twitter.
