California Turf Removal Rebates

California runs the largest set of turf-removal rebates in the country, but the amounts are not uniform. What you get depends on your water agency, not just your city. A homeowner in Los Angeles, a homeowner in the East Bay, and a homeowner in Long Beach can do the same size conversion and receive very different checks. Here is what each major program pays as of July 2026, and the one rule that disqualifies more people than anything else.

SoCal Water$mart (Metropolitan Water District)

The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California runs the regional SoCal Water$mart Turf Replacement Program, and it is the base layer for most of Southern California. The residential rebate is $2.00 per square foot of turf removed, up to 5,000 square feet per year (a maximum of $10,000 from MWD). Member water agencies frequently add their own money on top of this base, which is why the totals in Los Angeles and other cities run higher.

Rebate amounts are subject to change based on funding available at the time your application is approved. Some older articles still reference a legacy $7.00 per square foot rate; that is not the current base. Confirm the active rate on the official SoCal Water$mart program page before you plan your budget (last verified July 2026).

LADWP Turf Replacement Rebate

The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power pays the highest residential rate in this guide: $5.00 per square foot, which combines the $3.00 LADWP portion with the $2.00 MWD base. Projects run from 250 to 5,000 square feet, with a maximum rebate of $25,000. If you see a $3.00 figure quoted for Los Angeles, that is the LADWP-only portion before the MWD add-on; the full customer-facing rebate is $5.00 per square foot.

The higher amount is a limited-time increased incentive funded by state and federal grants, first-come first-served, and pre-approval is required before any work begins. Because grant-funded increases can end when the money runs out, confirm the current per-square-foot amount and the maximum on the official LADWP turf replacement page before you start (last verified July 2026).

Valley Water (Santa Clara Valley Water District)

In the South Bay, Valley Water runs a Landscape Rebate Program that pays $2.00 per square foot for converting an approved high-water lawn to low-water landscaping. The residential maximum is $3,000, rising to roughly $6,000 in designated cost-share areas. Artificial turf is not eligible for this rebate. Some retailers within the county add more: the City of Santa Clara, for example, has offered $4.00 per square foot for the first 1,000 square feet, then $2.00 per square foot after that, up to a lifetime residential cap.

Funding for the Valley Water program has been available through mid-2027 or until it is depleted. Check the official Valley Water landscape rebates page for your exact rate, your local retailer's add-on, and current funding status before applying (last verified July 2026).

East Bay MUD Lawn Conversion Rebate

East Bay Municipal Utility District offers two tiers. The standard Lawn Conversion Rebate pays $1.00 per square foot. The Super Rebate pays $2.00 per square foot but comes with conditions: you sheet-mulch, add compost, plant mostly California natives, and install during the September through February planting window. The single-family cap is $2,000 per 24-month period.

The Super Rebate rewards the kind of native-first, water-wise conversion that also tends to satisfy HOA design guidelines, so it is worth the extra steps if you qualify. Confirm both rates and the current requirements on the official EBMUD lawn conversion rebate page before you plan (last verified July 2026).

Long Beach Lawn-to-Garden

The Long Beach Water Department runs the Lawn-to-Garden program, one of the longest-running turf-conversion rebates in the state. It has paid a higher rate for front-yard turf than for back and side yards, on the logic that front-yard conversions do the most to normalize water-wise landscaping on a street. The front-yard and back-yard rates have differed, so check the current split on the official Long Beach Lawn-to-Garden page rather than assuming a single flat rate. The program has also offered a design reimbursement on top of the per-square-foot rebate.

Because the exact per-square-foot amounts and the design reimbursement can change between funding cycles, confirm the active figures on the official Long Beach Lawn-to-Garden page before you apply (last verified July 2026).

Your HOA cannot stop you (and the law says so)

If you live under a homeowners association, California law is on your side. Under California Civil Code Section 4735(a), any HOA governing document or rule is void and unenforceable if it prohibits, or has the effect of prohibiting, low water-using plants as a replacement for turf, or artificial turf that resembles a lawn. Section 4735(c) goes further: during a Governor-declared drought state of emergency or a local water-shortage declaration, an HOA cannot fine or assess you for reducing or eliminating the watering of your lawn. Section 4735(e) confirms you are not required to rip out water-efficient landscaping once the emergency ends.

An HOA can still enforce reasonable design standards for a native or drought-tolerant yard, so long as those standards do not effectively prohibit the conversion. That is where a clear, intentional planting plan makes the difference between an easy approval and a back-and-forth. For more on what an HOA can and cannot require in California, see our guide on whether an HOA can force you to keep grass in California.

A separate law, Assembly Bill 1572 (codified at California Water Code Section 10608.14), bans the use of potable water to irrigate nonfunctional turf. It phases in from 2027 through 2029 and applies to commercial, industrial, and institutional properties and to HOA common areas, not to individual home lawns. So while AB 1572 does not require you to remove your own front lawn, it is part of the broader shift that makes turf-removal rebates likely to keep expanding.

The one rule that trips everyone up

Across every program in this guide, the single most common way people lose the money is applying too late. These are pre-approval programs. If you remove your lawn first and apply second, you get nothing. The correct sequence is:

• •Find your water agency (not just your city) and its current turf-removal rebate.
• •Submit the pre-application and take any required before photos of the existing lawn.
• •Wait for written pre-approval before you remove a single square foot.
• •Complete the conversion to the program's requirements (plant coverage, mulch, and irrigation rules differ by agency).
• •Submit completion documentation and after photos to receive payment.

Funding is first-come first-served at most agencies and can run out mid-year, so apply early. For the full list of California programs by city and agency, see our California Water Rebates page. And before you choose plants, confirm they are non-toxic if you have pets: see our guide to toxic plants for dogs in California.