Vegetated Open Space in the Desert

That is tough question. The intent of the credit is to provide vegetated open space that promotes biodiversity. I have a feeling that crushed rock (native or not) won’t count. You could try a CIR arguing for biodiversity in the arid southwest. However, past project have not been successful arguing for biodiversity with 10+ different types of sedums. I think you are in the same situation for SSc5.1…but worth a CIR.

I have a similar question. I am working on a project located in the desert of rural west Texas where the natural landscape has little to no vegetation. Does this mean we would have to provide vegetation for the entire open space? If so, this would not be sustainable on a number of levels.

Eric, I think you can make a case for this but it is worth writing a CIR to confirm. Because there are some allowances for urban areas to include pedestrian-oriented hardscape areas as contributing to the credit, you may be able to make a similar case for your natural environment having limited vegetation. For the allowance in urban areas, the credit requires at least 25% of the open space area to be vegetated. I would suggest presenting a case where you propose to have vegetation for at least 25% of the open space area as well.