Austin Water aims to transform landscape requirements for new homes

Austin Water is planning a landscape transformation initiative for new single-family homes as part of the city’s long-range water conservation strategies, according to a progress report Wednesday to the Water and Wastewater Commission.

Kevin Critendon, Austin Water’s assistant director over environmental, planning and development services, noted that while rainfall in May brought the combined Highland Lakes storage level to about 56 percent, Austin remains in a stubborn drought with once-weekly outdoor watering restrictions. The rainfall, Critendon said, “is certainly good news and it’s certainly taking a bit of anxiety off of us for the very near future, but that does give us an opportunity to reframe and rethink water conservation … around long-term behavior modification.”

The concept of “landscape transformation” grew out of the 2018 Water Forward plan, a road map for the city’s water future for the next 100 years. The plan, which is currently in its implementation stage, heavily focuses on innovative conservation strategies to ensure the sustainability of Austin’s water supply.

Landscape transformation, Critendon said in his presentation, “is a collection of activities that the utility is working on pursuing, aimed at changing behaviors and attitudes around outdoor water use, specifically lawn irrigation.”

Because Texas is a lawn-loving state, encouraging people to shift away from traditional landscaping can present a Texas-size challenge for cities and water utilities across the state.

“This strategy that we’re advancing is focused on new residential installations. We’re approaching this to potentially limit turf and irrigation of turf, which we anticipate could save as much as (just under) 2,500 acre-feet a year by 2040,” Critendon said.

To move the ball forward on the initiative, Austin Water began soliciting feedback in late 2022 from city departments, the general public and key stakeholders in the construction and landscape industry, such as the Home Builders Association of Greater Austin and the Texas Nursery and Landscape Association.

With project delivery a critical concern of home builders, Critendon said the association is understandably worried about potential project delays under new landscape regulations. On the other hand, the Central Texas Professional Irrigation Association “generally supported” increased enforcement of water use and landscape irrigation while supporting greater use of high-efficiency irrigation systems designed to reduce water waste and overwatering. Nursery and landscape architect professional groups support stepping up installations of drought-tolerant and native plants, he said.

As for average residents who provided feedback, Critendon said it was not surprising that a majority of respondents favored requiring and promoting water-saving landscaping on new residential developments.

Other recommended measures include a possible requirement that new homes with an exterior wall adjacent to a laundry area include “laundry-to-landscape” plumbing, which would save an estimated 3,500 gallons a year. Additionally, builders would be given incentives to add rainwater harvesting systems to new homes for outdoor water use.

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