Automakers offer cash rebates. Shoe stores offer buy-one-get-one-free deals. Grocery stores offer double-coupon days. And the Albuquerque Bernalillo County Water Utility Authority offers a $20 credit on customers’ bills if they attend a free “Water Smart — How to Water Your Landscape” class.
Authority conservation manager Katherine Yuhas says the program has been effective in spreading the message about the importance of water conservation in New Mexico’s high desert metropolis. The Water Smart program completed its fourth year in 2012 and, despite two years of extreme drought, “We’ve recorded our two best conservation years,” Yuhas says.
The authority tracks water usage and
