JATC South students convert Utah governor's mansion park strip to water-wise planting

RIVERTON — Landscape architecture students from the Jordan Academy for Technology and Careers' south campus removed the grass from the park strip at the Utah Governor's Mansion and planted water-wise vegetation along drip irrigation lines that were already installed, Jordan School District said 1.

The district said the students did the work through a new Profession-Based Experiences program in its landscape architecture pathway at JATC South, led by instructor Margaret Ward 1. The academy lists that program at JATC South, 12723 South Park Avenue in Riverton, and names Ward as its instructor 2.

In a second phase, district career and technical education students will grow drought-tolerant plant varieties at the JATC South greenhouse and plant them in the spring, the district said 1.

The mansion work was part of the "Governor's Mansion Goes Waterwise" initiative and was one of four public sites in a statewide service week that Slow the Flow ran from Sept. 10 to Sept. 19, Utah News Dispatch reported 3. Organizers said more than 1,800 water-wise, pollinator-friendly plants would replace the mansion's turf along South Temple, and described the work as the first phase of a full-perimeter conversion of the grounds, with the remaining park strips scheduled for next spring 3.

Utah first lady Abby Cox said in a statement that if the state asks families to rethink what they do in their own yards, "we have to be willing to start at our house first" 34.

Organizers put the saving at about 27 gallons of water a square foot a year, or 27,000 gallons for a 1,000-square-foot park strip, and said they would measure the converted square footage and the gallons saved in a statewide report 3. Tage Flint, executive director of Utah Water Ways and Slow the Flow, said each of the projects is something "a family, a city or a classroom can copy" 3.

KSL reported the service week against a drought in which more than 90 percent of Utah was in severe, extreme or exceptional drought and the state's reservoirs had fallen to 50 percent of capacity, from 63 percent a year earlier 4. Slow the Flow, the state's water conservation education program, lists lawn-replacement rebates of $1.50 to $3.00 a square foot and drip-conversion rebates of $0.50 to $1.00 a square foot, with the amounts set by each city 5.

The school district's own board of education heard the work reported at its Sept. 22 meeting, where board member Niki George credited JATC South landscaping students with planting water-wise plants in the mansion park strip 6.

The district did not say how many students took part or when they were at the mansion, and it did not name any of them 1.

Sources: 1 Jordan School District, "JATC Students Partner With 'Slow the Flow' for Water-Wise Project at Governor's Mansion," Sept. 21, 2026 — https://jordandistrict.org/2026/09/jatc-students-partner-with-slow-the-flow-for-water-wise-project-at-governors-mansion/ 2 Jordan Academy for Technology and Careers, "Landscape Architecture" program page — https://www.jordantech.org/apps/pages/index.jsp?uREC_ID=714889&type=d&pREC_ID=1187264 3 Utah News Dispatch, Alixel Cabrera, "With eyes on the Great Salt Lake, water conservation advocates will remove Governor's Mansion turf," Sept. 8, 2026 — https://utahnewsdispatch.com/2026/09/08/great-salt-lake-water-conservation-advocates-will-remove-governors-mansion-turf 4 KSL.com, Carter Williams, "Why the strip is being flipped outside Utah Governor's Mansion," Sept. 11, 2026 — https://ksl.com/article/news/utah/environment/why-the-strip-is-being-flipped-outside-utah-governors-mansion/51622499 5 Slow the Flow (Utah water conservation education program), home and rebates — https://slowtheflow.org/ 6 Jordan School District, "Sept. 22, 2026 Board Meeting Summary" — https://jordandistrict.org/board/meetings/summary/2026-09-22/