Northern Water issues landscaping conservation grants

BERTHOUD — The Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District has issued $275,000 in grants to 16 new water-conservation projects in the region.

The projects represent nearly 1 million square feet of water-efficient landscape renovations, according to a press statement from Northern Water. The grant funding comes from Northern’s Water-Efficient Landscape Grant Program, which is now in its fifth year.  

With this year’s funding, Northern Water has contributed about $850,000 in grants over the past five years to 63 projects. If matching dollars are added, the landscaping rehab work totals about $1.7 million total.

Grants have ranged from $2,500 to $20,000, which is the maximum awarded, funding projects that have included irrigation system upgrades, transitions to water-wise plantings, native-grass conversions, incorporation of soil amendments and more, Northern Water said.  

“It’s exciting to see the grant program doing exactly what it was designed to do — create low-water and ecosystem-enhancing landscapes that thrive in our challenging climate and allow those projects to serve as demonstrations to the public of what’s possible on their own landscapes,” Frank Kinder, water efficiency department manager at Northern Water, said in a written statement. “We feel fortunate to have worked with so many great partners along the way to achieving this goal.”   

Here are the 2023 recipients and their projects:

Boulder County  

• Centaur Village West HOA in Lafayette, converting 10,590 square feet of turf grass to low-water plants with an upgraded and more efficient irrigation system.
• Coal Creek Village Master Association in Lafayette, replacing 25,000 square feet of turf with a native grass landscape and efficient irrigation system. 
• City of Lafayette Fire Station, replacing 8,000 square feet of turf grass with low-water firewise landscape Demonstration Garden and more efficient irrigation system.
• City of Longmont, converting 7,000 square feet of turf grass at the Sandstone Ranch Nature Area Demonstration Garden to low-water plants with an upgraded and more efficient irrigation system.   

Larimer County  

• Cottonwood Plains Elementary School in Fort Collins, converting 3,000 square feet of turf to native grass and low-water plants with an upgraded and more efficient irrigation system. 
• Hearth Fire Association in Fort Collins, converting 5,025 square feet of turf grass in a roundabout to low-water plants with an upgraded and more efficient irrigation system. 
• Heritage Ridge Metropolitan District in Fort Collins, replacing 82,093 square feet of turf with native grass. 
• Larimer County Facilities Rose Garden, removing 4,400 square feet of turf grass and replacing it with low-water plants irrigated under an upgraded and more efficient system. 
• Maple Hill HOA in Fort Collins, implementing irrigation system upgrades across 743,900 square feet of landscape. 
• Sunstone Townhomes Community Association in Fort Collins, removing turf grass and conducting irrigation retrofits and water-wise landscape conversions across 2,254 square feet in hard-to-irrigate street strips.  
• Town of Wellington, creating a 2,050-square-foot low-water landscape Demonstration Garden.  

Weld County

• City of Evans, undertaking a 6,000-square-foot landscape conversion at the Evans Community Complex, which will include water-wise plants and irrigation system upgrades. 
• Cityline Station in Greeley, converting 4,875 square feet of bluegrass to a low-water and native grass landscape with a water-efficient irrigation system. 
• First Congregational Church of Greeley, planting 26,320 square feet of low-water and native grass landscape and installing a water-efficient irrigation system.  
• Glen Meadows HOA in Greeley, implementing a native grass landscape and irrigation upgrades across 10,000 square feet. 
• Gloria Christi Lutheran Church in Greeley, replacing 5,500 square feet of turf grass with low-water plants irrigated under an upgraded and more efficient system.  

The next grant cycle is underway with consultations with prospective applicants now through September, followed by acceptance of applications Oct. 2 to Dec. 1 and notification of applicants late January 2024. Projects are to be completed by Sept. 30, 2024. 

Potential applicants can contact Northern Water at [email protected].