I posted some thoughts earlier, but they're gone into the big bit bucket.

If I stopped watering (2 a.m., 6 zones, max 25 mins. per zone, twice weekly) I would be cutting down my "circle of defense" in case of wildfire -- which happens out here all too frequently and much burns when it does. Oh, yeah, I have the street out front and the golf course beyond my back yard (why a golf course in high desert country?) but wind-carried embers don't discriminate. Two years ago we re-roofed, from a 1968-installed cedar shake roof to one that is Class A fire-rated and will (supposedly) withstand 120 mph winds (and check out the wind velocities of a firestorm).

Additionally, my lawn helps to cool the area, just as the golf course and the trees do. The water I use returns to the aquafer and eventually comes back to me via the wells that supply the city's water.

BUT! The water I use to bathe, flush, and so on COULD be send to a treatment facility where it could be recycled into the city's potable water system. That would reduce the call on the aquafer while still supplying needed water. Indeed, my "gray water" could be used to water my lawn while the "black water" would be recycled. It's already being done in some cities and towns.

Water, the old saying has it, is the true gold of The West. The problem is in Las Vegas, in LA, in Phoenix, and other cities which drain the Colorado. This city owns about 5,000 acre-feet (call it 1629257.14286 US gallons per acre-foot) in a nearby reservoir -- and the city of Denver is ready and willing to run a pipeline over the Teton range to tap into this reservoir.

Everyone is going to HAVE to cooperate or The Great American Desert will truly become such.