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LADWP Now Pays Customers $3 a Square Foot to Replace Their Lawn

LADWP Now Pays Customers $3 a Square Foot to Replace Their Lawn

Cash in Your Lawn Incentive Jumps a Dollar Higher to Further Incentivize Outdoor Water Savings
LOS ANGELES — To encourage more outdoor water conservation, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) has increased its Cash In Your Lawn incentive to $3 a square foot from $2 a square foot for residential customers to replace their water-thirsty grass with California Friendly plants and other water-wise landscaping. Of the 600 million gallons of drinking water delivered daily in the City of Los Angeles, about half is used for watering outdoors.

“Our Cash In Your Lawn program has been a huge success, and we hope this latest bump up in our rebate will encourage even more of our customers to switch out their gardens to a more California Friendly style,” said Jim McDaniel, Senior Assistant General Manager, Water System.  “Conservation has never been more important than in this especially dry year. Customers may not be willing to change out both a front and back lawn, but converting even just one of them can save a lot of water and help better manage their bill.”

LADWP water customers must adhere to the current, mandatory Water Conservation Ordinance that limits watering with sprinklers to three days a week. Making the additional switch to gardens featuring native California Friendly plants is voluntary, but encouraged, as Los Angeles and many other water utilities are looking to longer-term solutions in dealing with dry climate cycles. 

All LADWP customers interested in the Cash In Your Lawn Program must pre-apply for a rebate and receive LADWP approval before starting the turf replacement project. The Department will rebate up to 2,000 square feet of lawn replaced, for a maximum cash repayment of $6,000. LADWP may also inspect the lawn before it is removed, and return when the project is completed.

The California Friendly plant palette is rich and diverse, with a wide variety of beautiful trees, perennials, vines, succulents and shrubs from which to choose. To help customers transition to water-wise gardens, LADWP, through its partnership with the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, offers California Friendly landscape and gardening classes for customers to attend in person or take online. Classes include tips on drawing a site plan, installing drip irrigation, utilizing water permeable ground cover, selecting a water wise planting palette, and other elements of a sustainable garden.  

Since LADWP implemented the California Friendly landscaping incentive program in 2009, more than 8 million square feet of turf has been replaced, resulting in 250 million gallons of water saved.