The City of Henderson's deadline for removing decorative grass from HOA common areas is December 31, 2026, about nine weeks from now. The Southern Nevada Water Authority pays a per-square-foot rebate for each conversion, so the cost of tearing out the turf is not the expense to watch if you're buying into a Henderson HOA. The costs that reach homeowners have come later, after the grass is gone. They have also landed unevenly inside the same community. A buyer comparing communities this fall can see much of that exposure in a Nevada resale package before closing.
The Conversion Has a Rebate Attached
The rule comes from Assembly Bill 356, passed in 2021. It bars the use of Colorado River water on nonfunctional turf after December 31, 2026. Henderson's nonfunctional grass page names HOAs, multifamily housing, businesses, golf courses, churches and local governments as covered. It exempts grass at single-family residences and functional grass at schools and parks. A deputy general manager at the water authority described nonfunctional turf to FOX5 as grass where "the only person walking on it is the landscaper."
The SNWA Water Smart Landscapes page currently lists a rebate for business, HOA and multifamily properties of $5 per square foot for the first 10,000 square feet and $1.50 per square foot after that. It adds $100 for each qualifying new tree. The project has to be finished within 12 months of a required pre-conversion visit. SNWA may grant an extension of up to 90 days.
The rate has changed before. In July 2024, KTNV reported a business and HOA rate of $3 per square foot, with a planned drop to $2 and $1 starting January 1, 2025. Henderson's own rebate page still shows $2 per square foot for commercial properties. An HOA board quoting a rebate figure should be able to say which schedule it used.
Henderson also requires a city permit for turf removal in single-family common open space. The permit is free, and the city reviews the replacement landscaping for Development Code compliance.
Green Valley Ranch Got Its Bill Afterward
KTNV reported in April 2026 on a court complaint alleging that "after the conversions, trees began to die throughout Green Valley Ranch." According to the complaint, a December 2025 community newsletter announced a $10 monthly assessment to replace the community's "dead, dying and diseased trees." That amount is an allegation in a lawsuit, quoted from a newsletter, and it is not a final cost. It still marks where the expense showed up. The assessment came after the conversion, and it funds replacing trees, not removing turf.
Wingbrook Park in Green Valley became the starting point for the litigation. Plaintiffs filed suit on January 16, 2026, seeking an order to protect the park. By the plaintiffs' account in an August filing, the park lost its grass anyway. In September, a plaintiff told News 3 that removing the turf there let moisture escape from the ground and killed trees.
The city's account of its own conversions is different. On its park water conservation page, Henderson lists 81,562 square feet of turf removal at Anthem Hills Park as complete. The page says the city assesses existing trees and will replace removed trees with as many or more trees, plants and amenities. Henderson's AB 356 page also tells property owners how to protect trees during a conversion, including drip irrigation under the full canopy and no trenching beneath it.
For a buyer, the questions are about the trees: whether the community's conversion was designed around them, and whether the budget assumes it might have to replace them.
Inside One HOA, the Cost Does Not Split Evenly
The second pattern shows up in communities with more than one housing type. The law exempts single-family residences, but AB 220, passed in 2023, changed the covered wording. Property "zoned exclusively" for single-family use became property "not used exclusively" as a single-family residence. In practice, attached homes and townhome sub-associations can fall on the covered side, while detached homes in the same master plan do not.
The clearest numbers come from outside Henderson. In April 2025 testimony to a Nevada Senate committee, the president of the Spanish Trail Master Association, a Las Vegas community of 1,200 homes and 11 sub-associations, put projected compliance at $7.3 million, or $6,000 per home. He estimated that townhomes around 1,100 square feet could pay as much as $9,000 each, compared with $200 to $300 for the larger single-family homes. Those were projections, not invoices, and they come from one community. They still show how much the share can differ inside one master association.
If you're choosing between a townhome and a detached home in the same Henderson community, the HOA fee on the listing doesn't tell you whether the sub-association above the townhome has its own turf to convert.
What's Still Unsettled Before January
Several things that affect what an owner pays in 2027 are still pending as this post goes out.
| Date | What happens | Where it stands |
|---|---|---|
| November 3, 2026 | Las Vegas Valley Water District board considers the business impact statement for its new service rules | Proposed |
| December 1, 2026 | LVVWD public hearing on the rules | Proposed |
| December 31, 2026 | Henderson's stated grass removal deadline | Posted by the city |
| January 1, 2027 | SNWA's stated start of the prohibition. LVVWD rules take effect if approved | Prohibition set by law. Fees pending |
| To be rescheduled | Court hearing on a preliminary injunction and class certification | Vacated September 28. News 3 reported it would be reset within days |
The LVVWD proposal would treat irrigating nonfunctional turf as water waste. Fees would double with each violation and scale with meter size, from $80 for a first violation on a meter 1 inch or smaller up to $5,120 for a fifth violation on a meter 3 inches or larger. According to FOX5's report, district officials tied the timing to federal guidelines finalized in late August that require Nevada to leave 50,000 acre-feet in Lake Mead in each of 2027 and 2028.
That schedule belongs to LVVWD. Henderson's AB 356 page doesn't publish a separate turf fine. Under city code, Henderson's Utility Services director enforces the city's water rules through administrative fines. The city's water-waste FAQ says a courtesy warning generally comes before a fine.
The lawsuit, Clark County District Court case A-26-937025-C, has already been through three temporary restraining orders and a Nevada Supreme Court writ denial. It was sent to federal court and then sent back. As of News 3's September 28 report, a ruling on class certification was still pending, SNWA had moved to dismiss, and the agency declined to comment on the litigation. KTNV reported in April that the HOAs and other entities in the case represent more than 10,000 homes and more than 25 million square feet of grass. An HOA can be a party to this case while you're under contract on a home it governs.
Where This Shows Up in a Henderson Resale Package
Nevada requires sellers in HOA communities to deliver a resale package, and several of its required items line up with the costs above. Under NRS 116.4109, the package includes:
- The current operating budget and year-to-date financial statement, with a summary of the reserves.
- The monthly common-expense assessment and any unpaid obligations of the seller.
- Current and expected charges against the unit, including assessments, fines and penalties.
- A statement of unsatisfied judgments and pending legal actions against the association, plus pending community-related actions the seller knows about.
NRS 116.31152 requires the board to commission a reserve study at least once every five years and review it every year. The study covers component condition, useful life, repair costs and a funding plan. In practice, a tree replacement assessment like the one reported at Green Valley Ranch would fall under "expected charges." An association's role in the turf lawsuit would fall under "pending legal actions." Whether the landscape budget assumes the trees survive is a question for the reserve study.
This is general information, not legal or financial advice. Confirm the details of a specific community and contract with a Nevada real estate attorney or the right professional.
Quick Answers
Does the law make me remove grass from my own Henderson yard? Henderson's page says the law does not apply to grass at single-family residences. Whether an attached home counts as single-family is the question AB 220's "not used exclusively" wording raises.
Has the deadline been pushed back? No. The city still lists December 31, 2026, and SNWA still lists a 2027 start. The AB 356 bill summary says the SNWA board may approve an extension or waiver.
Can an HOA put sprinklers back in where the grass used to be? LVVWD's proposed rules would make spray irrigation in converted turf areas a water waste violation.
If you're comparing Henderson communities this fall, or selling a home in one that's partway through a conversion, The Hellewell Home Group can help you read the budget, reserve summary and litigation disclosures in the resale package before you commit. Start with a free home valuation, and we'll include what the turf deadline means for your community's numbers.