Austin Water, Austin, Texas, has identified a “core set of potential water conservation actions for landscapes of new residential homes and new irrigation systems” that will be used in its irrigation and landscape ordinance for new single-family residences.
In 2018, the city of Austin published a water-related strategic plan—Water Forward—to help Austin prepare to adapt to changing water needs over a 100-year period.
The ordinance was a policy recommendation included in the strategic plan aimed at reducing Austin’s residential water use.
32% of Austin’s residential water use is for landscape irrigation.
The specific set of actions included in the policy thus far include soil depth and composition requirements, providing homebuilders with a list of required plants, limiting turf grass, aggregate restrictions, limiting the total landscape area that can be irrigated, encouraging smart irrigation and incentivizing homebuilders to install alternative water fixtures such as laundry to landscape and rainwater collection systems.
In documents published by the utility, it is noted that the ordinance is still being drafted, and the organization is still receiving feedback from the public and key stakeholders.
According to the timeline published by Austin Water, it is aiming for the summer of 2023 to submit the final ordinance for council adoption.
Read more about smart irrigation.
