Trase Taggart’s yard is an open-air buffet.
Hummingbirds dart in to collect nectar from red yucca blossoms. Goldfinches peck at seeds growing on native wildflowers. And Taggart’s dog, Dusty, munches on one of his favorite treats — fresh peas from a vegetable bed.
Creating this edible oasis wasn’t simple. Homeowners associations often have rules prioritizing uniform, manicured lawns. Like many homes in St. George, Taggart’s is part of an HOA.
“It's not just one homeowner deciding to do it on their private property, which would be so much easier,” he said. “You are involved with the community here.”
That created some complications when Taggart, a retired science teacher, decided to replace a small plot of grass in his front yard with water-efficient desert landscaping. So a few years ago, he became HOA board president and eventually convinced all 40-odd homes in his neighborhood to remove their lawns together.
The project not only conserved water, he said, but also saved so much on lawn care costs that it cut the HOA’s monthly expenses in half. Between those savings and a rebate from the Washington County Water Conservancy District, the association was able to pay off the grass replacement last year.
And Taggart is happy to pass on what he’s learned. His yard will be featured during the April Parade of Gardens hosted by Conserve Southwest Utah and the conservancy district.
“I can show people that, ‘Hey, you can do it,” Taggart said. “It's possible to have some beautiful flowering plants and some beautiful vegetable and herb gardens and still deal with the blazing sun.”
Nearly half of the water used in fast-growing Washington County goes to landscapes, said district conservation manager Doug Bennett. That makes it vital to find ways to use less, especially in a dry year like this.
A few years ago, his team assessed the county’s urban grass, and it estimated that around 40% of local lawns were purely ornamental. HOA rules can make it hard — or impossible — for residents to ditch that grass.
“Change is always difficult,” Bennett said. “It's even more difficult when you have these extra layers of bureaucracy.”
The district can’t accept a grass removal rebate application from someone if the HOA controls their yard and does not approve the change. That can cause a lot of confusion for homeowners.
“Imagine how perplexing it is,” Bennett said. “Sometimes these people have been living there for five or more years. They apply to our program, and the first time they learn that they don't actually own that land is when we come back and say, ‘Hey, that's not part of your parcel.’”
Some developments, like St. George’s Sun River, have helped homeowners conserve by collecting grass removal rebate applications at the neighborhood office. But other HOA boards have become so resistant, Bennett said, that they create obstacles.
For homes like Taggart’s, where the yard is classified as the HOA’s limited common space, there’s not much a homeowner can do if their board doesn’t give them the green light. While some of Taggart’s neighbors were initially hesitant to leave their lawns behind, he said, open communication helped get them on board.
“We were empathetic, and we listened and we understood their concerns, but at the same time, we were looking at what was best for the community,” he said. “Then as time went on, those feelings changed.”
For residents who own their lawns but have an HOA agreement that restricts what they can do, Utah allows them some rights.
A 2025 law says an HOA can’t prohibit homeowners from having low-irrigation landscaping. Another law allows HOA residents to reduce lawn irrigation during drought. There’s also a law that extends protections to condo owners. While it’s not the water district’s job to enforce laws, Bennett said he doesn’t hesitate to send HOAs a letter offering to educate their board on what the statutes mean.
There have already been signs pointing to the potential impact of increasing conservation in HOA neighborhoods, Bennett said. Washington County residents have removed more than 3 million square feet of grass through the rebate program since it launched in late 2022, and 27% of that has been in HOAs.
“If we can get homeowners associations engaged, or increase their engagement, I think we have the potential to dramatically increase the water savings that are coming out of these transformation programs,” Bennett said. “There's so much untapped potential.”
