I’m in Utah, live at about 5,000 ft elevation with a sunny south facing backyard and alkaline, clay soil. My “lawn” was about 75% bindweed and poa when I bought the house last year. I’m working on killing weeds and improving the soil, but will need to either overseed heavily or rip out and restart the lawn.

I have 2 dogs that play on the lawn daily and need a grass that will stand up to moderate traffic and fill in enough to suppress weeds. After that, my priority is water conservation. It doesn’t have to be the world’s most beautiful lawn if it’s hardy and lower maintenance. I’ve looked at resources like the turf grass water conservation alliance for cultivar recommendations, but am not sure what type of grass would be best. Assuming I go with a TWCA approved cultivar, would I be better off adding KBG, a fescue, perennial ryegrass, or? I’ve also looked at the option of a native warm season grass blend, but it looks like they may not tolerate much traffic and would have to be started from scratch since they can’t compete with cool season grasses. Anyone been in this situation and have recommendations?