Popular Cash-for-Grass Incentive Returns: Metropolitan’s Upgraded Turf Replacement Program Rolls Out This Week
To help spread the word, Metropolitan also is launching a marketing and advertising campaign on radio and billboards throughout its six-county, 5,200-square-mile service area.
The most popular water-saving rebate in Southern California history is
available, again.
Just in time for spring plantings, the Metropolitan Water District of
Southern California once again is offering $2 per square foot for every
square foot of grass removed from yards and replaced with sustainable
landscaping. Consumers can visit bewaterwise.com
to review program requirements and apply.
To help spread the word, Metropolitan also is launching a marketing and
advertising campaign on radio and billboards throughout its six-county,
5,200-square-mile service area.
“After so much rain this winter, people may be wondering about the
continued need to be water efficient,” said Metropolitan General Manager
Jeffrey Kightlinger.
“The reality is California’s long-term trend is toward hotter and drier
weather. The lawn replacement program will help residents and businesses
get paid to make a permanent change to grow beautiful yards more
suitable for the changing climate,” he added. “And the crowds flocking
to see this year’s wildflower superbloom is a reminder of just how
beautiful and popular California’s native plants are.”
The last time Metropolitan offered a $2-per-square-foot incentive was
during the drought of 2014 and 2015. Southland residents and businesses
flocked in record-setting numbers to bewaterwise.com
to apply for the incentives. After awarding about $340 million rebates,
Metropolitan had to close the program because available funding ran out.
The enormously popular program ultimately spurred the removal of 160
million square feet of grass across Southern California—projected to
save 21,600 acre-feet of water per year, enough to serve about 64,000
households annually.
As part of the new turf replacement program, updated rules adopted by
Metropolitan’s Board of Directors in February require all eligible
projects to have at least three plants for every 100 square feet of area
transformed, a stormwater retention feature and the replacement or
modification of overhead spray sprinklers. Hardscapes within a
transformed area, except for permeable elements, are not allowed.
The outreach and marketing campaign includes multi-lingual 15- and
30-second radio advertisements and traffic report sponsorship, as well
as online, mobile and digital ads. About 230 digital billboards at
shopping malls, movie theaters and grocery stores across the region also
will feature the tagline “DITCH YOUR GRASS, CLAIM YOUR REBATE.”
More information about the turf replacement program and about
water-efficient landscaping, as well as other water-saving rebate
programs, is available at Metropolitan’s online water conservation
portal, bewaterwise.com.
The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California is a
state-established cooperative that, along with its 26 cities and retail
suppliers, provide water for nearly 19 million people in six counties.
The district imports water from the Colorado River and Northern
California to supplement local supplies, and helps its members to
develop increased water conservation, recycling, storage and other
resource-management programs.
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