In my book Water is for Fighting Over, I delighted in this cheap shot at the Bureau of Reclamation’s Boulder City office –

… a grandiose white building atop a hill … surrounded by an expanse of lawn that is embarrassing in a desert city that averages less than six inches of rain a year.

I am happy nine years after I wrote that, via Daniel Rothberg’s excellent water news, to correct the record. In response to Southern Nevada’s “non-functional turf” regulations, Reclamation will be tearing out the lawn. In classic federal fashion, the project is accompanied by a 400-page NEPA analysis:

According to the report, about 4 million gallons of water were used to maintain the landscapes at the two building. Redesigning them as desert-friendly xeriscape could result in water savings of more than half, or about 66%. The bureau started this work, at a cost of more than $4 million, and it recently opened up the project to the public.

I’ll be back in Boulder City week after next, I’ll check on how things are going.