A gaggle of companies that present water to thousands and thousands of consumers within the western U.S. has agreed to rip-up grass lawns in public areas throughout a number of states as a part of an effort to scale back water utilization because the Colorado River continues to undergo from a serious drought.

More than 30 companies that draw water from the river signed on to the conservation settlement final week. The pledge guarantees to take away 30% of grass lawns and substitute them with “drought- and climate-resilient landscaping while maintaining vital urban landscapes and tree canopies,” that profit communities and wildlife. The companies will take away the numerous well-manicured lawns seen all through parking heaps, neighborhood entryways, and freeway medians.

Though seemingly innocent, grass lawns burn up quite a lot of water. A 2016 study co-authored by NASA scientists emphasised that grass that grows in arid states (like California, for instance) might be accountable for as much as 75% of a family’s water consumption. Agencies just like the Southern Nevada Water Authority have incentivized property owners to swap grass lawns with vegetation that take in rather a lot much less water, like drip-irrigated timber.

“Replacing this grass with drip-irrigated trees and plants will save about 9.5 billion gallons of water, which is about 10% of our community’s total water allocation from Lake Mead/Colorado River,” a spokesperson for the Southern Nevada Water Authority advised Earther in an e mail.

So far the dedication is slightly gentle on particulars. The companies promised to broaden water recycling efforts, although they didn’t clarify how. The settlement additionally failed to say how the regional agricultural trade will decrease its water use, although it did acknowledge that cities don’t burn up a lot of the water popping out of the river. Urban areas use about one-fifth of the water sourced from the Colorado River, whereas agriculture takes up the remaining, the Associated Press reported. “Cities—the 20% —can’t solve the math problem. But we can certainly contribute to solving the problem,” John Entsminger, the Southern Nevada Water Authority’s basic supervisor, stated in line with the Associated Press.

Communities out west are already feeling the ripple results of some latest water conservation efforts. A small city of 500 individuals close to the Rio Verde foothills in Arizona could also be with out water by the top of this 12 months. The city doesn’t have its personal water and has sourced it from close by Scottsdale. But late final 12 months, Scottsdale introduced that it might stop transporting water to the city by 2023. City officers cited the Colorado River water shortages for the cutoff. Scottsdale sources about 65% of its water from the river and officers try to decrease scale back utilization by ceasing water deliveries to the small city.

If the area doesn’t proceed to scale back water utilization from the Colorado River, main reservoirs like Lake Powell and Lake Mead might dry up in simply three years. And it doesn’t seem like the nation’s water woes are going away anytime quickly. Just final month, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration introduced that the U.S. is in for one other tremendous dry winter. Almost all of California, Nevada, and Utah are anticipated to proceed experiencing drier-than-average circumstances, and lower-than-average precipitation.