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The dry garden: L.A. offers rebate for ripping out your lawn

Posted by: Maven on June 11, 2009 at 7:24 am

From the Los Angeles Times:

Fast on the heels of the new watering ordinances that took effect June 1, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power has begun a cash-for-grass program. Single-family homes served by the DWP will be eligible to receive $1 for every square foot of turf that they replace with less thirsty alternatives.

For years Southern California water managers paid scant attention to outdoor water conservation. Then they saw stunning savings achieved in Nevada. According to the Southern Nevada Water Authority, in the last decade, Las Vegas has removed more than 125 million square feet of grass, saving 7 billion gallons of water a year. That’s almost one-tenth of Southern Nevada’s annual water supply.

Here in Los Angeles, the new Residential Drought Resistant Landscape Incentive Program is not region-wide. It applies only to Department of Water and Power customers, and it’s not the $1.50 per square foot that Vegas residents receive. Any other catches?

The agency won’t be buying dead lawn, warns DWP spokeswoman Jane Galbraith. If you are lucky enough to live where the lawn is already dead, the water company takes the view that nature has already done the right thing for you.

But if you have 200 to 2,000 square feet of lawn that is doing little more than consuming water, then the DWP is willing to pay you to get rid of it. That includes the forlorn strip of lawn between the sidewalk and curb known as the “parkway.”

June 11, 2009 · Filed Under Drought Tolerant Landscaping, Southern California

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