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Standing-room only. Overflow crowds. People turned away.

A hot concert, you ask? Nope. It's a class about outdoor water conservation.

The Albuquerque Bernalillo County Water Utility Authority wants to take an hour and tell you all about the low-tech but important ways you can reduce water use.

And here's the catch: They'll pay you $20, in the form of a bill credit, to do it.

The first class, at the Cherry Hills Library on May 12, was standing-room only, and some had to stay for a second hastily organized class afterward.

"I think more people didn't get in than did," said Barbara Pass, one of the few and the proud who showed up early enough.

So far, 800 people have sat through the class.

The target of the presentations, which continue through August at three locations around town, is the estimated 40 percent of all water use that is meant for gardens, lawns and other outdoor tasks.

With a few simple tweaks, said Katherine Yuhas, the authority's water conservation maven, average customers could probably cut down water use in that area by 30 percent to 50 percent.

But, "People need information about what to do," she said.

Among the topics explored in the one-hour class: How much water lawns really need, how often to water and what sorts of plants don't need much water.

Northeast Heights resident Jolene Armbrust says she plans to start using some of the tips to save water. Among them: putting out old tuna cans on her lawn while she's watering. That helps to measure how long it takes for the sprinkler to do the job and avoids overwatering.

But she's not quite there.

"I always forget to put them out," she said.

Others enjoyed the class - and the rebate - but didn't get much out of it.

"I didn't really learn a whole lot new," said Pass, who lives in the Cherry Hills neighborhood. "But it was interesting."

Still, the program is bound to save water in the end, Yuhas said. It's also drawing attention to the authority's other rebate programs that encourage low flow toilets and water collectors and the like.

The increasing savvy is reflective of a larger trend in the water conservation world.

"Today, people are much more concerned," said Richard Chapman, an Albuquerque conservation consultant who teaches the class. "Virtually none of us were ever taught how to figure this out."