John Daley Reporting

Utah's drought may be retreating, but water watchdogs are urging us to look ahead and not forget all the good lessons we've learned about conservation. The question they ask is, what do you think about "ripping your strip?"

Utah is the second driest state in the nation, but has one of the highest per-capita rates of water use, in part because of the pesky parking strip--that hard-to-water space between sidewalk and street.

Homeowner Mary Fraser has struggled with hers for years.

Mary Fraser: "I've lived here for almost eight years. No matter how much water I apply to the parking strip, I've got an automatic sprinkler system, by August it's scorched earth."

The Utah Rivers Council has a solution. They say "rip your strip" -- rip out your thirsty grass lawn and replace it with water-wise plants.

Hundreds of people like Mary have signed up for the Rip Your Strip program, in which they take a pledge to update their parking strip and get a free packet with a workbook, sample designs, and discount coupons from local nurseries and landscape suppliers.

At Mary Fraser's home making the water-wise parking strip transition will cost several hundred dollars, but use roughly 15% of the water, saving an impressive 7500 gallons of water a year.

If you want to save water on your parking strip there's a website where you can make the pledge and find all kinds of information; it's www.ripyourstrip.com

The Utah Rivers Council hopes this trend catches on, indeed they are trying to make it "hip" to rip your strip.