Texas city offers rebates to save water
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E-mail Xinhua, September 4, 2013
The city of San Antonio in the U.S. state of Texas is offering its residents rebates for reducing the size of lawns in an attempt to save water amid the worst drought in decades, local media reported Tuesday.
The water district serving San Antonio said about 2,000 homeowners enrolled over the summer in a pilot program that offered 100 U.S. dollars vouchers in exchange of removing at least 18.6 square meters of lawn, the San Antonio Express-News reported.
Aside from the coupons, the program also gives instructions on how to convert to the new water saving gardens, the report said.
San Antonio is not the only Texas city that gives incentives to residents in a bid to conserve water. Austin, its capital city, has also offered smaller-valued rebates for residents who removed turf, according to the report.
Texas, especially its central part, is experiencing the severest drought in recent decades. According to figures from the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, reservoir levels in Texas are at about 64 percent of their full capacity -- the lowest levels at this time of year since 1990 and about 10 percentage points lower now than they were last summer.
Evaporation could further reduce lake and reservoir levels if fall temperatures are higher than average. The administration predicts the drought will persist or intensify in most of Texas through October.
