Public Agency Turf Replacement and Project Assistance Program
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The Public Agency Turf Replacement Program provides an incentive and project assistance to encourage public agencies to remove non-essential turf on public property. Agencies are encouraged to be leaders in water conservation and sustainability by creating projects that demonstrate efficient water use in their communities. Metropolitan Water District is offering public agencies a rebate of $3.00 per square foot with a maximum of 200,000 square feet per water meter per year and free project assistance. See last section of page for free project assistance information and application.
For the purposes of these programs a public agency is defined as follows:
“Any federal, state, regional or local governmental entity, agency or department, including any special district, joint powers authority, city, county, or other political subdivision of the State located within Metropolitan’s service area.”
PLEASE NOTE: Metropolitan reserves the right to request documentation that verifies an applicant meets the above definition of a “public agency.” Examples of possible requested public agency documentation are:
- Government charter document that establishes the public agency
- Tax documentation that shows government tax-exempt status
- City or county articles of incorporation
The processing and verification of an applicant’s status as a “public agency” may take up to 2 weeks once the application has been submitted.
Project Requirements
The intent of the Turf Replacement program is to combine turf removal, irrigation modification and rainwater retention to support the reuse or soil absorption of rainwater and to establish organic, drought tolerant landscaping.
Every turf replacement project may differ in style but at a minimum must include:
- 3 plants per 100 square feet of area transformed
- A stormwater retention feature
- No hardscape within the transformed area, except permeable hardscape
- Replacement or modification of overhead spray sprinklers
- Additional requirements can be found in the program Terms and Conditions
PLEASE NOTE: Synthetic turf is not an approved construction option.
The Turf Replacement program has a two-part application process. In order to receive a rebate, you must first apply to reserve rebate funds prior to starting your project. At the time of funds reservation, you must indicate your public agency type. Metropolitan staff will review your application to confirm public agency status. If additional documentation is needed, a staff member will reach out to you. This review may take up to two weeks. Once public agency status is confirmed, review and approval of your application will begin. After your reservation is confirmed, you will have 180 days to complete your project and submit your request for a rebate. Additional time may be granted on a case by case basis. Projects already completed or projects which have begun prior to application submittal are not eligible for a rebate.
Please read the Terms and Conditions and the Frequently Asked Questions thoroughly before applying for your rebate. These pages will help you navigate the application and understand the information and materials you will need to provide as part of the application process.
Free Project Assistance Available
Metropolitan will provide a consultant to assist with a public agency turf replacement project at no cost to the public agency applicant. This assistance is optional and not required for submittal of a turf replacement rebate application. Consultants ARE NOT project managers but will assist with items such as project scope of work development, budget development, RFP development, contractor solicitation and review, grant funding requests, project timing, and rebate application and tracking. To receive project assistance please fill out the project assistance request form with your contact information, project name, project description, and type of assistance needed. You will be contacted by a Metropolitan representative within one week for a review of your application. Once reviewed, a consultant will be assigned and will reach out to provide assistance. If you do not require project assistance and would like to submit your turf replacement rebate application now please click here.
Additional Program Resources:
Depending on the conversion methods used in your Turf Replacement project, you may be eligible for additional rebates on devices such as weather-based irrigation controllers, soil moisture sensors, rotating nozzles, rain barrels or cisterns. For information on available outdoor device rebates, please visit the outdoor device page.
