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The newest sports field in Albuquerque is open, and this one should not only save water but save Highland High soccer coach Andrew Legant 45 minutes and increase his fan base.

The Southeast Heights school on Wednesday unveiled its new artificial turf field.

It's a welcome development for Legant, whose boys soccer team usually plays at the Farmers Insurance Soccer Complex off of U.S. 550 near Bernalillo.

"It's a 45-minute drive from Highland High School each way," Legant said. "To get out there can be a challenge."

The Highland turf joins Milne and Wilson stadiums among Albuquerque Public Schools' artificial turf sports fields. But it could also mark the beginning of a larger effort to repopulate the district's grass playing fields with less water-thirsty surfaces, said Brad Winter, the district's executive director of facilities and planning.

"We're looking toward the future as far as the scarcity of water," Winter said.

Already, officials at La Cueva High School are speaking to state legislators about securing money to get an artificial turf field of their own, Winter said.

The financial help is needed. The fields are pricey.

The upgraded Highland field complex — using 115,000 square feet of a top-of-the-line synthetic surface called Mondoturf — came with a $900,000 price tag, Winter said.

That included $600,000 from the Legislature, $80,000 from the city and $120,000 from the Albuquerque Bernalillo County Water Utility Authority because the field is expected to save more than 2 million gallons of water each year. Winter said APS paid the rest, about $100,000.

The field is expected to be a practice facility for the Hornets' football team, and it will be home for the soccer and junior varsity teams, Winter said.

The city and APS have formed a partnership in which the city will maintain the field, but it will also be open to public recreation activities such as adult soccer leagues, Winter said.

"We don't have any lighted fields except Milne and Wilson available to the community," Winter said. "With this joint agreement with the city, we can have kids soccer clubs play and practice on it."

For Legant's purposes, the new field is expected to play just like grass, only this turf won't get divots or standing water.

"It will always be in top condition," he said.

And he expects to see more fans next year, too. An experiment three years ago to play home games at a grass field at Highland saw crowds of 50 to 100 fans.

"We had a few fans this year, but it's rare you see more than 20 or 30," he said. "We're excited that it will come back."