As Texas faces growing water demand and shifting irrigation regulations, Cobalt® Hybrid St. Augustine is emerging as a smart turfgrass solution for water-conscious landscapes. Bred for drought tolerance and disease resistance, Cobalt is helping producers and districts rethink how to manage green spaces statewide.
One of the most visible examples of this shift is the Harris-Galveston Subsidence District (HGSD), which recently installed Cobalt around its Friendswood headquarters thanks to the advocacy and support of Lindy Murff, owner of Murff Turf Farm in Crosby, TX.
Cobalt® Hybrid St. Augustine installed at the Harris-Galveston Subsidence District headquarters in Friendswood, TX.
Where Policy Meets Landscape
Murff serves on the Board of Directors for HGSD, a government entity created by the Texas Legislature in 1975 to regulate groundwater withdrawal and prevent subsidence. The 19-member board includes lawyers, engineers and Murff as the agriculture representative.
Lindy said it's a big task for them to monitor all water wells in the Houston area since there are several million people who rely on water every day. He’s been involved since the late 1990s and now chairs the district’s water conservation committee.
“We're looking for ways to reduce water demand in total in Harris and Galveston Counties,” he said. “Cobalt St. Augustine just fits perfectly within the water conservation effort that we're trying to do.”
By 2035, HGSD policy will restrict groundwater use to just 10% of the total regional water demand. The remainder must come from surface or alternative sources.
To support that goal, Murff proposed installing Cobalt at the District’s Friendswood headquarters. Because the agency follows a public bidding process, he reviewed the initial landscaping bids and found them steep, especially from an industry perspective. Partnering with a landscape contractor he trusted, Murff helped cut project costs in half and upgraded the materials used. He also donated 30 pallets of Cobalt to complete the installation, providing additional savings.
The site spans roughly one to two acres. With visibility to visitors and water users from across the region, Murff said it made sense to make it a public-facing example of drought-tolerant landscaping.
“We wanted to put a nice landscape package on their headquarters so when people come, they can see a visual example of the performance of the grass.”
Thanks to his longstanding work with Texas A&M turfgrass programs and early investment in its development, Murff was among the first in Texas to license and grow Cobalt when it was released in January 2022. He started with eight acres and added 70 more in early 2025, now in early production.
From a production standpoint, Murff said Cobalt stands out. “It’s darker than the others. St Augustines that we produce. We've noticed less disease pressure on it, and specifically with gray leaf spot. I see less gray leaf spot on that grass than our other St. Augustines.”
Although it’s still early to judge long-term traits like grow-in time or chemical resistance, Murff believes the variety shows promise based on its trial performance and drought stress tolerance. He explained that drought tolerance will especially benefit the overall environment on the Gulf Coast, where water demand is being shifted from groundwater to surface water.
Research data shows that Cobalt can help homeowners save an estimated 6,000 gallons of water annually, a key reason the District agreed to use it at its headquarters.
“It’s expensive to water your yard so if Cobalt can help reduce the cost the homeowner has and give them better quality, then that’s all good.”
Smart Watering in Action
HGSD also funds and maintains several of the “Water My Yard” stations in the Houston area. A free program by Texas A&M AgriLife Extension, Water My Yard uses local weather data and research to provide customized watering recommendations via email or app. Currently partnered with more than a dozen agencies and active in over 70 Texas cities, the program helps residents use water more efficiently and cut down on overwatering.
Murff said it was rewarding to hear the program recognized during a Cobalt field day presentation by Texas A&M’s Dr. Ambika Chandra at Woerner Farms in Alabama. The event took place last fall. “It was neat to see the broad reach that it has. The Water My Yard program has a lot of potential.”
With several thousand people already using the app to monitor their lawn watering needs, he anticipates it’ll continue to grow. Regional water demand tops one billion gallons a day, with about 240 million gallons still pulled from groundwater. Murff stressed that every bit of conservation helps.
With restrictions ahead, Murff sees Cobalt becoming a go-to solution for saving water in Texas and beyond. And in Friendswood, the Harris-Galveston Subsidence District now offers a living example of what that future could look like.
This article was written by Cecilia Johnson.
