Golden Landscape
The City’s water conservation program is excited to announce the launch of the Golden Landscapes program, a pilot project focused on water conservation during the summer of 2025. We invite you to be part of this important effort to save water this summer.
What is the Golden Landscapes program?
This program encourages residential homeowners and Neighborhood Associations to reduce lawn watering and let their lawns go dormant - go gold - during the summer months. Participants who pledge to adopt a Golden Landscape will receive a free yard sign to show their support for water conservation. At the end of the summer, after completing a short survey on the program, they will be entered to win a $25 water bill rebate!
Why Go Gold?
- Save water: Help preserve our community’s water supply.
- Support sustainability: Be part of an initiative that positively impacts the environment.
- Be recognized: Show your neighborhood your commitment to a more sustainable future.
People tend to use several times more water in the summer than they do in the winter. Most of this increase in water use comes from lawn watering. Research shows that homeowners who typically irrigate their lawns apply, on average, about twice as much water as their lawns need.
Sign up today and make a difference!
Fill out the following form (Golden Landscapes Pledge) and email it to Julia.Cline@corvallisoregon.gov or mail a paper copy to:
Water Conservation Program
Public Works
1245 NE 3rd Street
Corvallis, OR 97330
More information on why Going Gold could be right for you:
Turf grass provides many benefits - it’s a soft surface for children and pets, but it is also valuable for conserving soil, filtering pollution that might otherwise run off your lawn into our streams and rivers, reducing urban heat loads by transpiring water, and more.
It is this ability to transpire, or evaporate, water quickly that makes keeping a green lawn a decision that isn't always ecologically green. What’s more, scientists at OSU’s Turf Research Farm have found that lawns don’t need as much water as they can use, and that reducing irrigation to provide only about 80% of a lawn’s water demand does not affect turf quality at all. So, even if you want that bright green grass, you should be watering less.
If you're willing to forgo the bright green (and all of the work that goes along with it), try a Golden Landscape. If a lawn can suffer no reduced quality if it gets only 80% of the water it wants, then what happens if it gets even less? Not much, really. The lawn does not die; it just waits for the fall rains. Many turf grasses will enter a dormant cycle when challenged by water stress. The grass turns a golden color and takes a nap until the fall rain returns. An early September soaking before the fall rains will help dormant lawns get a jump-start to remain healthy. As a bonus, the lawn will grow less over the summer so you won't need to mow as frequently. Consider letting your lawn go dormant this summer, by only watering once monthly during peak drought stress (June, July, August, September). Consider saving water, money, energy, and your time by letting your lawn go dormant this summer.
We highly recommend reading OSU's short article on low maintenance lawns - found here. Even with less watering, lawns may still need maintenance such as mowing, weeding, or overseeing grass to reduce weeds spreading. And remember, this program is focused on you making a commitment to watering less by significantly reducing or eliminating watering. For some people, that might mean completely eliminating irrigation, but for others it could look like cutting the amount of watering you do in half. Do what's right for you and your property, but commit to conservation while you do!
More resources:
Check out other Outdoor Water Conservation tips HERE.
OSU Extension Service: Lawn and turfgrass page with many useful resources for lawncare in Western Oregon: Lawn and turfgrass | OSU Extension Service
How to grow and maintain a healthy lawn | OSU Extension Service
What's your lawn style? | OSU Extension Service
What's Your Lawn Style? Low Maintenance | OSU Extension Service
