Landscape Restoration/Water Conservation at NAU
The purpose of NAU’s Landscape Restoration/Water Conservation project is to remove non-functional turf grass and establish native, drought tolerant meadow grasses and vegetation that will improve the efficiency of outdoor water use and improve campus biodiversity. Irrigating turf grass in northern Arizona uses approximately 40-55 gallons per year per square foot. The goal of the project is to reduce outdoor water consumption on the Northern Arizona University campus and show water conservation leadership in the community. This project will serve as a catalyst for the implementation of the campus master plan goals that include the removal and restoration non-functional turf grass on campus.
This project began in Spring 2023. Implementation has been led by Facility Services and the Office of Sustainability with financial support provided by a generous grant from the Arizona State Water Infrastructure Authority–Water Conservation Program with matching funds provided by the NAU Student Green Fund and water conservation rebates from the City of Flagstaff.
Project phases are as follows:
Phase 1 Accordion Open
Treatment Experiments: NAU established bluegrass removal experimental plots to compare the effectiveness and costs of non-chemical turf removal treatments including sod cutting, solarization, rototill, sheet mulching, and irrigation removal. Phase 1 initiated in Spring 2023 and is an ongoing experiment on facility services lawn. At this stage of the research, we are still waiting for one additional growing season of data to recommend a cost effective, non-chemical, turf removal technique that can work on large areas of turf grass.
Phase 2 Accordion Closed
Smart irrigation controls: Purchase and installation of four smart irrigation controls on permanent functional turf grass areas that do not currently have smart responsive irrigation systems. The smart irrigation systems will improve water use efficiency on functional turf grass areas by as much as 40%. These were installed on Gabaldon Field, Central Quad, Gammage/Milton Site, and Communication/Riles Site, covering 315,100 square feet of grass fields and saving at least 2,564,900 gallons of water per year. These sensors were installed November-December 2024.
Phase 3 Accordion Closed
Turf grass replacement: In Spring 2025, NAU initiated the conversion of non-functional bluegrass to more functional native meadow grasses landscapes. These initial sites are located at SBS West and Adel Math. Due to the constraints of the grant conditions and the lack of proven alternatives for turf removal, we will remove approximately 36,000 square feet of turf grass using a one-time herbicide application. These areas will be converted to a native meadow grass, alternative lawn, hardscaping, social spaces, and planting beds. Water savings are projected to be 1,086,000 gallons annually. This work will continue through Winter 2026.
Erik Nielsen, Chief Sustainability Officer and grant PI stated, “This project represents many years of work by students, faculty and staff to improve the stewardship of our landscaping and water
resources. The project has been informed by multiple student capstones that assessed the social, economic and ecological opportunities of removing turfgrass and their recommendations for replacing turfgrass with more biodiverse and climate resilient landscapes. The impact of these first site conversions is not insignificant. For example, the water conserved from these measures is the equivalent to 125 average Flagstaff homes water use and will save NAU over $40,00/year”.