The Marin Municipal Water District is prohibiting businesses and government agencies from installing new decorative turf.
The ban, set to take effect on April 15, is aimed at reducing demand on local water supplies by the preventing the installation of decorative grass typically found in areas such as road medians or along sidewalks in strip malls and shopping centers. The restriction does not affect residential landscaping or recreational areas such as parks and athletic fields.
“Even though the specific water supply benefits will be modest, I think this is an important first step to ensuring that we don’t continue with water wasteful practices,” district board member Cynthia Koehler said during the board’s meeting on Tuesday.
“I think it’s a very vital and necessary step for Marin to take and ultimately I think will only add to the beauty of Marin County by moving forward into a more sustainable landscape,” board member Larry Bragman said.
The new rule targets turf projects that would require new water connections of any kind, including recycled water connections. These include new construction projects that have an aggregate turf area of more than 500 square feet. The ordinance also affects landscape rehabilitation projects that would have 1,000 square feet of turf or more.
The board voted 4-1 to adopt the ban on Tuesday. Larry Russell, the board president, cast the dissenting vote, stating that 30 days was not enough notice for projects that are working their way through the permitting process.
“I think there would be buildings already in design that you’re going to step right on their toes,” he said. “What’s the rush?”
He also disagreed with prohibiting businesses or agencies from installing decorative turf that only uses recycled water.
Carrie Pollard, the district’s water efficiency manager, said the idea of banning all decorative turf is to encourage the most efficient use of the water available, especially as the district expects demand for recycled water to increase through the years.
“The thought was that we want to encourage the use of recycled water, but that’s also valuable water,” Pollard told the board. “At some point, it will be a limited supply.”
Pollard said there are no water service applications under consideration for non-residential developments. The district will also use a variance process to consider specific developments.
Board member Jack Gibson also expressed concern about potential overregulation, but other board members disagreed.
“We need to get our arms around landscape in Marin. It’s our biggest single use of water,” Bragman said. “I agree that recycled water should be conserved. It shouldn’t be looked upon as free water. It’s not, it’s more expensive water. We have a lesser supply of recycled water.”
Board member Monty Schmitt said the board should take a step further by eventually phasing out all decorative grass, including existing turf to be removed. There are about 35 acres of decorative grass on non-residential areas in the district. District staff estimates this turf uses a total of 164 acre-feet of water per year, which equates to about a half-percent of the district’s total annual water use in 2020.
“We’re concerned about growth and we have an opportunity here to take out nonfunctional grass and medians in order to meet new housing,” Schmitt said.
