NAMPA, Idaho — The City of Nampa is encouraging residents to conserve water with a new initiative called Nampa In Bloom. Nampa's director of water resources, Jeff Barnes, aims to reduce the city's water consumption by 10%. “Every year, every single Nampa resident uses enough water to fill about five full swimming pools,” Barnes said.
The rebate program offers residents up to $5,000 in reimbursements for replacing their current landscaping with water-efficient plants. To qualify, participants must transform at least 500 square feet of their yard and complete the project for approval by the end of the summer.
“We have professionals to help them with a simple design,” Barnes said. “And they have to get the job done this summer, which will help people get the work done and not procrastinate.”
Diane Jones of Draggin Wing Farms, who has specialized in native plant species for 20 years, is assisting the city. “Grass isn’t that easy to grow and make it look really nice. A lot of these plants tend to be not very demanding,” Jones said.
Residents are encouraged to use drip irrigation systems and drought-tolerant plants, which can be more sustainable than traditional sprinklers and lawns. “Even in the winter, you have some interest. So you have some height, some shape, some different colors,” Jones added. “Plus, you’ll create habitat for birds.”
Jones recounted her own experience with native plants after she procrastinated on irrigation fixes, “I didn’t fix it. The plants kept looking fine. And in that year, which was a very hot summer, we only watered three times, three times the whole year. So these plants, they’ve been in here for quite a few years, but they have really deep root systems, which makes them very, very drought tolerant.”
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