![\"\"](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/Turf-Replacement-Beforeedit.jpg\")
This turf replacement and landscaping project, which was\ncompleted in June, is a step toward a more sustainable future for the Arizona airport\u2014and\nthe city. This region is known for its dryness and intense summer heat, which\nputs a premium on water. That makes water conservation essential for the\nPhoenix metropolitan area\u2019s long-term sustainability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Water consumption at the airport averages 30 million gallons\nper month, necessitating such conservation efforts like the use of\nlow-irrigation xeriscape. Removing all grass turf that is high in water use\nfrom Sky Harbor grounds will dramatically reduce water usage by 5.375 million\ngallons a year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/Turf-Replacement-Afteredit.jpg\")
In place of the grass that also required high maintenance as\nwell as water, suitable desert scenery is in its place:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u00c2\u00b7 435 new\nlow-water-use trees added;<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u00c2\u00b7 75 saguaros\nadded, 61 of which were salvaged from the areas where turf was removed and from\nthe Rental Car Center currently undergoing PHX Sky Train\u00ae construction;<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u00c2\u00b7 275 large\nsignature cacti (ocotillo, senita, totem pole, Mexican fence post, organ pipe,\nand Argentine toothpick);<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u00c2\u00b7 About 2,900\naccent plants and shrubs for ground cover added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Succulents and drought-tolerant plants are hallmarks of the\ndesert, but another new landscape feature that was created as part of this\nproject is meant to evoke aviation imagery from an unexpected source:\nrock-filled gabion baskets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Gabion baskets are typically used near slopes and banks to\ncombat water erosion as well as offer an eye-pleasing element. There are now\n8,950 linear feet \u2013 or 1.7 miles \u2013 of gabions in areas where turf used to grow,\nand they are designed to mimic the swirling wingtip vortex created by\nhigh-speed jets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThis union of primitive landscaping and high-tech, airborne\njets is the perfect celebration of the job we do and the place where we work,\u201d\nsaid James E. Bennett, Director of Aviation Services. \u201cVisitors arriving from\naround the world are now welcomed by the sight of terrain that reflects our\nnatural Sonoran Desert habitat and commitment to environmental sustainability.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Aviation Department created a Sustainability Management\nPlan with the goal of reducing water consumption by 10 percent by 2020. The\nAviation Department worked with the Phoenix Water Services Department by\nperforming water audits at its three airports, and developed a Water\nConservation Plan outlining best opportunities for water conservation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A program to replace the green grass turf with native desert landscape around Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport is anticipated to save $400,000 annually in labor and materials as well as millions of gallons of water. This turf replacement and landscaping project, which was completed in June, is a step toward a more sustainable future […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":13245,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,116],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13244","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arizona","category-front-page-slider"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Sky-Harbor-New-Landscaping-Aerialedit2.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13244","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13244"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13244\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13248,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13244\/revisions\/13248"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13245"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13244"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13244"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13244"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}