Postdoctoral Research Assistant Desert Research Institute, Las Vegas
Southwestern US is going through a major drought, and arid cities have major cutbacks. In response, cities like Las Vegas Valley have proposed the removal of ornamental grass by 2027. Removing high water use vegetation can make the city susceptible to rainfall, floods, and extreme heat waves. A more sustainable approach is to improve irrigation patterns to save water. The improvement requires an understanding of the irrigation patterns at the end-user level. In this study, we examine 100 households’ backyards and their irrigation patterns. The study employs the water use data retrieved from Las Vegas Valley District. The assessment is done by segregating the swimming pool water consumption, car wash, and indoor water use. Two methods were tested for indoor and outdoor water segregation, including the minimum month and average minimum month model and winter irrigation water deduction. The study concluded that the minimum month average model gives more realistic values when compared to consumptive water use. The winter water deduction method works well for houses with a bell curve pattern (summer high and winter low). In addition, we found that the homeowners in Las Vegas Valley were over-irrigating their lawns (~4 inches /month) in Summer when compared to the recommended irrigation pattern by Southern Nevada Water Authority and were irrigating less than recommended in Winter and Spring.
