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Lawn to Garden Rebate
Program Overview
Contra Costa Water District (CCWD) offers rebates to customers for replacing their lawn with water-wise landscaping. Front yards and back yards are now eligible for conversion.
Rebate Amount
- The rebate is $1 per square foot of lawn replaced up to the maximum amount.
- The maximum rebate for single-family residential sites is $2,000; The maximum rebate for commercial, multi-family, and municipal accounts is $20,000 per site.
View photos of successfully completed lawn to garden projects and check out the program eligibility and requirements below. Find tips to help you get started - check out Seven Steps to a New Landscape and Garden Galleries for inspiration.
Program Eligibility and Requirements*
Eligibility
- The program is available to residential, commercial, and municipal customers who receive water for their landscape through a metered service in the CCWD retail and wholesale service area.
- Program is NOT retroactive. Projects underway or completed prior to applying and receiving a CCWD approval are not eligible.
- Sites can participate multiple times up to the rebate maximum.
- A minimum of 300 square feet of lawn must be converted in the front yard or back yard. Smaller front yard or back yard projects will be considered if 100% of the lawn area is being removed.
- Lawn areas proposed to be converted must have been irrigated. Brown or dead lawns that are not currently irrigated due to drought are accepted.
- Are you part of a Homeowner’s Association? Check out Legal Right to Have Water-Wise Landscaping (PDF) for more info.
Completed Project Requirements
- Projects must use enough plants so that at least 50% of the converted area is covered once fully grown.
- Plants must be low water needing and appropriate for our climate, see our Approved Plant List (PDF).
- Planted areas must be covered with mulch.
- If there is a current sprinkler system in place, it must be removed or replaced with a drip system.
- New landscape may include pathways and other hardscape. Concrete and other non-permeable surfaces cannot make up more than 20% of the total area to be rebated. The landscape must still meet the 50% plant cover requirement.
- Generally, CCWD provides six (6) months to complete a project, but extensions may be allowed if funding is available.
*Additional restrictions apply. See Terms and Conditions (PDF) and Frequently Asked Questions for full details.
How to Apply
- Confirm your site is eligible and you understand the requirements by reading the Program Terms and Conditions and Frequently Asked Questions above.
- Fill out the Lawn to Garden Rebate Application.
- Wait to receive a Notice to Proceed letter from CCWD. We may reach out to conduct an on-site pre-project inspection before approving the project. Please wait for approval of your participation in the program before starting your project.
- AFTER your application is approved, get started with these resources:
- Project Checklist (PDF)
- Gardening in Contra Costa County
- Landscape Design Assistance Program
- Get up to $200 back on a consultation with a landscape design professional.
- Approved Plant List (PDF)
- Sprinkler-to-Drip Retrofit: A Step by Step Guide (PDF)
- Watering Your New Landscape (PDF)
- Seven Steps to a New Landscape
- Submit your completed project for review.
- After your project has been reviewed and approved, CCWD will mail a rebate check. Thank you for joining the many customers who have decided to Lose a Lawn and Get a Garden!
Questions? Call 925-688-8320 or email us.