In an effort to save on water, Salt Lake County Mayor Jenny Wilson is looking to replace a series of athletic fields and grassy parking strips with artificial turf.
Wilson’s proposal was made in a budget presentation to the Salt Lake County Council on Tuesday where she proposed a $6.2 million plan to replace three Murray athletic fields with artificial turf. The transition to turf would save about 2.2 million gallons of water a year and would only need to be replaced every 10 years.
Wilson also proposed a $2.2 million plan to tear out and replace 142 grassy parking strips in 40 different county-owned facilities. The grass would be replaced with “localscape” and would save 5.5 million gallons of water a year.
Artificial turf has become a popular alternative to grass throughout Utah as a result of the state’s ongoing drought. Turf was recently legalized in West Valley City with several patches being laid outside of city hall as part of an experiment.
The Salt Lake County Council will vote on budget spending later this month.
