LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — The federal government is paying $2 million toward converting grass to artificial turf on athletic fields at 11 high schools in the Clark County School District (CCSD).
The Friday announcement came as the U.S. Department of the Interior detailed $140 million in spending on water resiliency programs, mostly in the West. It was the only Nevada project listed, while California projects received $46.6 million and Arizona got $11.4 million.
The Southern Nevada Water Authority “will provide financial incentives to convert over 1.5 million square feet of natural grass to artificial turf on 22 fields at 11 high schools within the Clark County School District,” according to the bureau’s news release.
Officials expect to save 109.8 million gallons of water (337 acre-feet) by replacing the grass. The savings will allow SNWA to “bank” water for future use from Lake Mead.
8NewsNow.com asked CCSD for a list of schools that would be part of the project. The school district didn’t provide that list, but noted plans announced in January during Superintendent Dr. Jesus F. Jara’s State of the Schools address. Artificial turf is already installed on 29 high school football fields. Starting this year, CCSD will spend more than $290 million to install 9 million square feet of artificial turf with an estimated savings of over 500 million gallons of water per year.
“The primary focus of the turf conversion projects will be on athletic fields at CCSD high school campuses. CCSD is still in the planning phase for the projects and will award the projects through the regular bidding process,” CCSD said.
CCSD anticipates the conversion of all high school sports fields to be completed in about seven years.
Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Washington and Wyoming also received federal funds. Overall, 84 projects in 15 states received funding.
St. George, Utah, secured $3 million in funding for a water metering project that federal officials expect to save 2,711 acre-feet of water for the Virgin River Drainage Basin.
The bulk of projects in the West are for replacing infrastructure — water meters — and grass rebate programs. Some of the funding is for repairing or modifying canals to reduce water loss due to seepage. The federal government is providing the funds through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which contains $8.3 billion for projects over the next five years.
Infrastructure funding will add another $4.6 billion directed at Western drought.
“Delivering water more efficiently is key to helping Western communities become more resilient to drought,” Bureau of Reclamation Commissioner Camille Calimlim Touton said.
“For more than 120 years, Reclamation and its partners have developed sustainable water and power solutions for the West. With increased funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act, we’re able to expand that work, extending collaboration and expanding conservation,” she said.
