Los Angeles, Calif. – The Los Angeles-based Metropolitan Water District of Southern California this month immediately began offering offer homeowners what it calls a “modest” rebate to install synthetic turf.

Water officials said the program is the first of its kind in Southern California. A handful of Northern California communities offer similar programs (we list those below).

The Metropolitan Water District is Southern California’s main water supplier, serving nearly 18 million people in six counties. The new rebates cover the agency’s entire service area.
What the district actually did was add synthetic grass to its list of water-saving devices that qualify for financial incentives. The rebate program will now pay 30 cents for every square foot of turf a homeowner replaces, or between 2 percent and 3 percent of the local estimated retail cost of $12 per square foot, said district spokesman Bob Muir.

Other California water districts and agencies that have rebate programs encouraging the use of water-friendly landscaping such as NewGrass™ include:

Soquel Creek Water District
Rebates of $2 per square foot for synthetic grass that replaces an existing lawn.

Santa Clara County
Rebates of up to $1,000, or $75 per 100 square feet (whichever is lower) for homeowners (up to $10,000 for commercial, industrial and institutional properties)

North Marin Water District
Cash rebates of $50 per 100 square feet of regularly-irrigated lawn that is removed, up to $400 for a single-family dwelling, $100 for a townhouse or condominium, and $100 for an apartment.