\u25b6\ufe0f Denver7’s Alex Dowd talks with Erie neighbors about how they’re saving water <\/p>\n
Erie community members take steps to reduce water usage<\/p>\n
“Most of my neighbors seem pretty involved with it,” Erie resident Kelly Fauna said. “A lot of them aren’t watering their lawns. Some of them are, but it definitely seems like something I’ve heard people talking about.”<\/p>\n
Jason Shimmel has lived in Erie for just under a decade. He says when he moved to the town, he ripped up his lawn to plant food and flowers for his wife’s florist business.<\/p>\n
“We use less water than bluegrass does per square foot, but still more than a true low-water native garden,” he said. “Most of it is giving us something back, so we look at ourselves as farmers, like urban farmers, on our tiny little quarter-acre plot here.”<\/p>\n
In the front lawn, he says there are mostly native plants, which he waters about an inch every two weeks. The side lawn \u2014 one of the only grass patches on the property \u2014 gets watered about every 10 days.<\/p>\n
However, Shimmel says while he’s more aware of his water usage, it isn’t necessarily down this year. In fact, he says some areas are up due to the harsh heat’s effects on his plants.<\/p>\n
He has noticed he isn’t the only one, and sees those watering turf lawns as a larger issue to conservation.<\/p>\n
“It gives us flowers that [we] use for business,” he said. “It gives us a ton of food. We still have a pantry stocked of stuff that we grew last year. We do canning and pickling and all that kind of stuff. So I’ve looked at it through a different lens because I see it as more farming and actually feeding us as opposed to ornamental.”<\/p>\n
He’s also noticed some Erie neighbors opting to switch their turf for more native lawns.<\/p>\n
While not everyone is fully following the recommended restrictions, the average person in Erie saved 1,285 gallons of water over those three months.<\/p>\n
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