More Cash for Lawns in Vegas

The Southern Nevada Water Authority is bumping up its bounty on lawns by 50 percent. "The authority will now pay residents and business owners $3 for every square foot of thirsty grass they rip out and replace with desert landscaping," Henry Brean reports for the Las Vegas Review Journal.

The agency fears that the program has already picked up the least-loved lawns. The number of square feet converted to desert landscaping was well off its 2004 peak. Now with a higher price they hope to persuade more lawn owners to join the program.

"The Water Smart Landscapes Program is one of several conservation measures adopted by the authority in the early 2000s in response to drought on the Colorado River, which supplies about 90 percent of the community’s water," Brean reports. Other programs targeted fountains, misters and golf courses. Many of these temporary programs have since become permanent.