Does Lubbock Need a Grass Ban to Ensure Water is Always Available?

Las Vegas is looking at banning grass from all future development. According to the AP, if this passes, all new buildings will have to be grass free. The reason they are doing this is to prepare for a hotter drier Las Vegas if the climate continues to change. They are already banning swamp coolers at all new developments, which was used a lot in Las Vegas. Now they want to take away the grass. 

Lubbock has always had a hard time getting and keeping water. We spend massive amounts of money to get water to Lubbock from sources that are far away like Lake Allen Henry and Lake Merideth. The interesting thing is, instead of charging citizens and businesses for the grass they have, we charge them for the runoff where concrete pushes water to the storm drains.  

Should Lubbock Ban grass on all new development the way that Las Vegas may? I am not trying to give the city council ideas, but we do live in what is almost a desert, and we have water issues.  

I think that having a grass ban would hurt Lubbock as well as Las Vegas. First, Grass helps the ground hold onto water that might evaporate. Second, if you do not put rocks or something on top of the soil, then it will make sandstorms even worse, and we will lose topsoil. Last, we could create even more runoff which would mean we would need more storm drains. 

It seems to be a silly idea when you think about it. The only thing it would help with, is people watering grass. If it gets brought up at the Lubbock city council, don’t be surprised though. It would not be the first time that Lubbock wanted to take the crazy ideas from another city and use them here.