It’s a win for synthetic turf! At least 12 of the 45 Bay Area water districts are giving homeowners an incentive to replace their lawns with artificial grass. With California’s severe water drought, homeowners are conserving water by restricting the amount of water used to keep their lawn thriving. Dead and dying lawns are unattractive, and homeowners are looking for an attractive alternative that saves water.

Leading the way two years ago, Santa Cruz began giving residents a rebate for replacing their laws with fake grass. “Frankly, many people are doing it for maintenance reasons and aesthetics,” says Santa Cruz’s administrative services manager, Toby Goddard, “Many lawns here have turned brown.”

In a one-year pilot program, East Bay Municipal Utility District (EBMUD) has decided to offer single family residents a rebate for installing artificial turf. The proposal would offer an incentive to homeowners to install artificial turf in place of grass at the price of 50 cents per square foot, not to exceed $1250 per home. An additional caveat to the proposal is that homeowners must replace half of the lawn area with live, low water-usage plants. The addition of the live plants offers a very sustainable environment, acting as producers of oxygen and offering habitats for bugs and animals.

The Contra Coast Water District has imposed a similar rebate offer, allowing homeowners the option to replace half of their dead and dying lawns with a permeable artificial turf and the other half with water resistant plants.

The rebates are a very popular alternative, and the water districts require homeowners to make an appointment with them prior to installing the artificial turf in order to qualify for the rebate. Judging by the backlog of appointments, residents are finding synthetic turf is a great compromise.

With artificial grass looking and feeling more and more like real grass, families find it is a perfect selection for animals and children to play on while maintaining an attractive esthetic appeal. The savings of water and the reduction of chemicals and fertilizers that go into maintaining a green lawn are other benefits to synthetic grass. Combined with mulch and healthy low water consumption plants, neighborhoods are looking more attractive. Homeowners are able to put some money in their pockets with the rebate, or at least use it to offset the cost of the new landscape.

If you are interested in installing artificial turf in place of your lawn, please contact us. Artificial Turf Express has all of the equipment, tools, expertise, and products that you need to make your lawn look and feel alive again.