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Albuquerque Xeriscape agave plant mark
Albuquerque Xeriscape
(505) 531-4724

Editorial standards

Editorial & Source Standards

How Albuquerque Xeriscape selects sources, verifies claims, handles AI assistance, and processes corrections for service content and research publications.

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Who is responsible for this content

Albuquerque Xeriscape (albuquerquexeriscape.com) is operated as a free consultation request line for the Albuquerque metro. Editorial decisions — including what sources are cited, how claims are described, and how research pages are structured — are made by the site operator. The site is not ABCWUA, is not a New Mexico government agency, and does not perform design or installation work.

For the site's identity, operator role, and provider relationship model, see the About page. For how consultation requests are routed and fulfilled, see How Requests Work.

Source hierarchy

Claims on this site are supported by sources in priority order:

  1. Primary government and regulatory sources — ABCWUA program documentation, City of Rio Rancho program pages, New Mexico Regulation and Licensing Department, and other official regulatory bodies. These are the authoritative sources for rebate rules, program eligibility, and licensing requirements.
  2. Peer-reviewed academic research — Published studies in indexed journals with methodology, denominators, and retrievable DOIs or permanent URLs. Used primarily on research and statistics pages with full citation.
  3. University extension and authoritative research institutions — NMSU Cooperative Extension, SNWA, ABCWUA annual reports, and comparable bodies. Used where primary-source data is reported at institutional level.
  4. Publisher-compiled synthesis — Tables, charts, and comparisons built from the above sources by the site operator. The methodology, source list, and any transformations are disclosed on the page.

Claims not supportable from the above sources are not published. Estimates, ranges, and planning figures are presented with their denominators and limitations rather than stated as universal facts.

How service-page claims are verified

Service page content covers the scope, process, and eligibility rules for xeriscape installation, turf removal, drip irrigation conversion, ABCWUA and Rio Rancho rebate programs, and related services. Verification applies to:

  • Rebate program rules and amounts — Reviewed against ABCWUA and City of Rio Rancho program pages. Pages include the date the source was last checked. Rebate amounts and program rules can change; the rebate review date shown on relevant pages indicates when the source was last confirmed.
  • Regulatory facts — Licensing requirements, program eligibility rules, and pre-approval sequences are drawn from official agency documentation and linked directly.
  • Service scope and process — Descriptions of what installation, turf removal, drip conversion, and rebate preparation involve are based on published program requirements (ABCWUA Xeriscape Guide, NMSU Cooperative Extension publications) and general industry practice, not claims about any specific provider's capability.
  • Provider claims — The site does not publish specific provider claims (license numbers, insurance policy numbers, pricing, project portfolios) on service pages. Providers confirm their own credentials directly with the customer before work begins.

Research and statistics pages: higher standard

Research pages (under /research/) apply a stricter standard than routine service pages:

  • Every quantitative claim links to a retrievable primary publication (journal article, government report, or official program data).
  • Denominators, geographic scope, study design, and date range are disclosed for each estimate.
  • Secondary-source statistics without a retrievable primary are listed under "Limitations" rather than included in the dataset.
  • Transformations applied to raw data (unit conversions, normalizations, arithmetic reconciliations) are documented step by step.
  • Version history records what changed between publication versions and when.
  • A correction email address is listed on each research page.

Research pages are non-commercial. They do not promote any contractor, recommend any provider, or produce service leads. They exist to contribute accurate synthesized data to a topic where published estimates vary widely and are often cited without their denominators.

AI assistance policy

AI language models are used to assist with drafting prose, formatting tables, and identifying structural gaps in page outlines. The following rules apply without exception:

  • No quantitative claim, program rule, eligibility requirement, or rebate amount is published on the basis of AI output alone. Every factual claim is verified against a primary source before publication.
  • AI-generated text is not described as "experience," "our research," or any formulation that implies original field work or first-hand evidence the site did not produce.
  • AI-generated images are not used as project evidence, local landscape photography, or field documentation.
  • Research page data tables and calculations are built from primary sources, not AI outputs.

AI assistance in production does not affect the evidence standard. A claim requires the same primary-source backing whether or not AI was used in drafting the surrounding prose.

Freshness and claim decay

Not all content decays at the same rate:

  • High decay — Rebate amounts, program eligibility rules, pre-approval requirements, and program contact information can change with ABCWUA or City of Rio Rancho policy updates. Pages covering these topics include a "Last reviewed" date and a direct link to the authoritative source for current rules.
  • Lower decay — Descriptions of how xeriscape installation works, what turf removal includes, and how drip irrigation conversion is structured are more stable. These are still reviewed when program requirements they reference change.
  • Research pages — New peer-reviewed estimates or official program data are added when found. Version history on each research page records all material changes.

When an authoritative source changes a key figure (rebate amount, plant allowance, minimum turf threshold), affected pages are updated before the next publication cycle.

Corrections

If you believe a factual error appears on any page of this site, email info@albuquerquexeriscape.com with the page URL, the specific claim in question, and the source you believe contradicts it. Research-page corrections can also be sent to research@albuquerquexeriscape.com. Corrections to published research are documented in the version history of the relevant page.

Disputes about rebate eligibility, program rules, or provider conduct should be directed to the relevant water authority (ABCWUA or City of Rio Rancho Water Conservation Office) or to the provider directly. This site cannot adjudicate rebate decisions or contractor disputes.

Sources regularly reviewed

The following sources are used across multiple pages and reviewed when program information may have changed:

Related pages