The days of huge, unused swaths of public and commercial lawns appear to be numbered in California and the Metropolitan Water District is offering an incentive to hasten their demise, at least in Southern California: A whopping $7-per-square-foot rebate to businesses, schools and other public institutions that replace their thirsty lawns with sustainable landscapes containing native and/or drought-tolerant plants.
The offer, which went into effect Sept. 1, is the largest rebate ever offered by the agency and more than double the $3-per-square-foot rebate it previously offered to commercial and public customers, thanks to a $30-million grant from California’s Department of Water Resources and $96 million from the federal Bureau of Reclamation’s Lower Colorado Basin System Conservation and Efficiency Program.
Rebates for residential lawns are still at $3 per square foot, said Krista Guerrero, a senior resource specialist for the water district who manages the agency’s turf replacement program and specializes in outdoor water efficiency…