Is the American West Finally Ready to Kill the Lawn?

A daily mix of stories about cities, city life, and our always evolving neighborhoods and skylines. [Curbed]( Friday, December 2 drought [Is the American West Finally Ready to Kill the Lawn?]( A historic agreement to save the Colorado River by tearing up more grass is a small step, but a crucial one. Photo: Robyn Beck/AFP via Getty Images The Colorado River is drying up. This day has been coming since the agreement to divvy up its water was made exactly [100 years ago](, signified most strikingly by lengthening white rings of mineral deposits left in wetter years [tracing the shores around Lake Mead](, the nation’s largest reservoir, now a slowly draining emerald-hued bathtub in the desert. The American Southwest’s worst drought in history has stressed every inch of the river’s 1,450-mile watershed, leaving a system so severely depleted that officials can no longer ignore the [scientists who have been sounding the alarm for decades](: There is no more water, and there is no more water coming. (At current use rates, the most generous estimates say there are four to six years left.) Staring down forecasts predicting yet another winter of [exceptionally low snowpack levels](, a consortium of 32 agencies that supply water to 40 million Americans living in both the driest and fastest-growing places in the U.S. have finally made a [historic agreement]( to reduce water use — most significantly by setting a goal to decrease grass lawns throughout their service areas from Denver to Santa Monica by 30 percent. [Continue reading »]( Cyber Week Sale: [Subscribe for 75% off]( and unlock unlimited access to Curbed and everything New York. Plus get exclusive access to The Strategist’s Incredibly Exhaustive Gift Guide. [Learn more about RevenueStripe...]( The Latest [No, That Wasn’t Danny DeVito You Just Saw at a Party in Bushwick Just hundreds of semi-bald lookalikes.]( [Ding-Dong, Here Comes Legal Weed Delivery As storefronts race to open, the state is clearing a path to getting those pre-rolls brought to your door ASAP.]( By Clio Chang [The City’s Listing for a Rat Director Is a Bit Much The right candidate will have a “general aura of badassery.”]( By Clio Chang [Learn more about RevenueStripe...]( [Read More From Curbed]( [Sign up for Reread: Real Estate Mania](, a newsletter resurfacing the wildest real-estate stories from the New York archives. Photo: New York Magazine [GET THE NEWSLETTER]( [logo]( [facebook logo]( [instagram logo]( [twitter logo]( [unsubscribe](param=curbed) | [privacy notice]( | [update preferences]( This email was sent to {EMAIL}. Was this email forwarded to you? [Sign up now]( to get this newsletter in your inbox. [View this email in your browser.]( You received this email because you have a subscription to New York. Reach the right online audience with us For advertising information on email newsletters, please contact AdOps@nymag.com Vox Media, LLC 1201 Connecticut Ave. NW, 12th Floor Washington, DC 20036 Copyright © 2022, All rights reserved