Sunday, May 18, 2008

North Hills Trimming Its Lawns

By Amanda Stevens
Journal Staff Writer
    The North Hills Neighborhood in Rio Rancho is undergoing a major face-lift.
    The neighborhood, in conjunction with the city of Rio Rancho Water Conservation and Hilltop Landscape Architects and Contractors, is working on a water conservation project that began in October.
    The North Hills neighborhood, which is one of the top 10 private water users in Rio Rancho, is trying to reduce its water usage by 30 percent within the next 10 years, said Victor Rodriguez with Hilltop Landscape, which is designing the yards.
    All 1,539 front yards in the neighborhood share a common irrigation system for watering yards that contain mostly grass, Rodriguez said.
    "We came up with an agreement that we would set up a program to start xeriscaping the lawns and put in a buffer strip so the sprinkler heads wouldn't be right along the street and driveways," he said. "We're not going to get rid of all the grass entirely."
    The sprinklers that are on the border of the streets or driveways spray onto the concrete and cause much otherwise preventable water runoff, Rodriguez said.
    "Sprinkler heads are inaccurate and they will spray all over the place. Right now, we are concentrating on the areas that have a lot of slope because those areas, when the sprinklers are on, you have all that water rushing down the gutter."
    Hilltop Landscape offers residents three choices for their new front yards.
    One choice is to have a gravel strip surrounding the grass currently in the yard. The other two choices are xeriscape packages with gravel and a few plants or a tree, he said.
    The project is estimated to cost $1.5 million by the time it is finished, Rodriguez said.
    The project is funded through the neighborhood association dues, which are about $35 a month, said Ron Rees, the neighborhood association president.
    "The homeowners association is trying to do this and work cooperatively with the city because (Rio Rancho) is not telling us we have to do this, but they are wanting us to do whatever we can to eliminate runoff," Rees said.
    So far, an estimated 80 to 90 homes have had a "face-lift," Rodriguez said.
    "There is no one single hero in this thing," he said. "It's a great example of the community and city and managing company coming together to work toward a common goal."