LOS ANGELES – The Los Angeles County Waterworks Districts said the agency has seen a significant increase in applications for the Cash for Grass Rebate Program since Governor Jerry Brown’s April 1, 2015 executive order for mandatory water reductions.
“For calendar year 2015 the number of applications received in May and June represent 75 percent of the total applications received,” Paul H. Maselbas, a Principal Engineer for LACWD told FactFlyer.
The Waterworks Division (which administers turf removal programs in Districts No. 21, Kagel Canyon; No. 37, Acton; and No. 40, Antelope Valley), has received 724 applications in 2015 for these districts as of June 2015.
Maselbas said funding for the Cash for Grass programs has not been exhausted and the Board of Supervisors has authorized up to $300,000 in rebates per fiscal year in the districts.
“Due to the popularity of the program, we plan to recommend to the County Board of Supervisors that the available funding for rebates be increased in Fiscal Year 2015-16,” Maselbas stated in an email, explaining that “funding for the SoCal Water $mart program was increased on May 27, 2015, to $350 million dollars, which is in addition to the $100 million that was included in their two-year budget.”
Maselbas said that the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California (MWD) offers a turf removal rebate program on a much larger scale for most of Southern California.
MWD provides wholesale water to approximately 18 million people, which includes Los Angeles County Waterworks District No. 29, Malibu and Marina Del Rey. For District 29, there have been 122 customers who have participated in MWD’s program in 2015, Maselbas said.
More information on the MWD rebate program is available at www.SoCalWaterSmart.com.
And in Los Angeles County Waterworks District No. 36, Val Verde, the Castaic Lake Water Agency has received 26 applications for turf removal under its program.
The Cash for Grass Rebate application form is available at DPW.LACounty.gov, and applicants must obtain pre-approval before removing grass and beginning the landscape conversion project. LACWD notes that projects started or already completed prior to pre-approval are NOT eligible.
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