So, there’s probably always gonna need to be some watered, grassy fields. Grass is rapidly self-healing, grows quickly. You want to play sports on a sports field, you probably want to do it on grass, and AstroTurf is kind of a disappointing alternative.
We have the water available to do small parks, even in the desert. We can let people have access to a grass surface.
But doing it all over an entire suburb is really water-intensive. And a lot of people aren’t actually out walking on their yard’s grass and tearing it up, so they don’t need the rapid self-healing that it offers.
California in particular – with large population centers in arid landscape – has seen some movement on xeriscaping, doing landscaping that still looks nice – even if it’s not as tolerant of being walked on. But it’s still really not a norm.
EDIT: And one perk of doing something other than lawns is that lawns are really maintenance-intensive. Because they grow so quickly, the same thing that lets them repair damage from being walked on quickly, they also have to be mowed all the time to keep them short. Most plants that are okay with less water usage don’t require nearly as much upkeep.