NOTICE: All Landscape rebate projects must be preapproved by the District before work may proceed. If not preapproved, the project will not be eligible for the incentive. Please call our Water Conservation Specialist at (831) 384-6131 or (831) 883-5900 for preapproval of your project.
About
The Water-Wise Landscape Incentive Program promotes water conservation by offering rebates to customers to retrofit old, inefficient irrigation equipment, and to replace lawn areas with low water use plantings and hardscape features.
Did You Know?
About 50% of residential water use is for landscaping.
And, up to 40% or so of that water is not required for optimum plant growth and is, therefore wasted!
Minimum Qualifications
To qualify for any of the landscaping rebates, customers must first be preapproved.
- Meet the key Minimum Eligibility Requirements described below
- Applicant must be a MCWD customer.
- Applicant must be the property owner.
- Renovations must be to existing landscapes. New construction projects are not eligible for incentives. (Note: The landscape incentives are estimated and provided by individual landscape sites. A landscape site is the area served by a single, metered water service.)
- Rebates must be used for approved Evapotranspiration (ET)-based equipment. ET controllers are irrigation controllers that use some method of weather-based adjustment of irrigation so plants receive just the amount of water needed to stay healthy.
- Complete a site visit (or submit photos) to ensure the project meets detailed criteria.
Landscaping Tips
Visit the Landscaping Principles and Guides page for more information.
Lawn & Sprinkler Replacement Rebates
Rebate Amounts
- Lawn Removal: $1.00 per square foot for the replacement of natural, irrigated lawn with low water use features (for example: plants, artificial grass, decorative rock, organic mulch).
- Sprinkler Conversion: An additional (or separate) $0.50 per square foot incentive for the conversion of an associated sprinkler irrigation system to drip or dripper line type irrigation.
- Maximum incentive for Lawn Removal + Sprinkler Conversion:
- $2,000.00 for Single-family sites, and
- $5,000 for Multi-Family, Commercial, Institutional, Industrial and Large Landscape sites.
READ ME: Rebate Requirements (PDF)
Irrigation Controller Rebates
The District provides rebates for the conversion of any existing standard irrigation controller with a District-approved Evapo-transpiration (ET) based irrigation controller that:
- Adjusts automatic scheduling parameters at least daily
- Can control up to six stations.
- Are installed on a fully operational irrigation system, at least two years old, with a minimum of four valves/zones operating
Rebate Amounts
- $150.00 rebate per controller. For every station above the six minimum, customer can receive an additional rebate of
- $20 per station for single family sites
- $40 per station for multi-family/commercial/institutional/industry/large landscape sites.
- Maximum rebate per controller is $1,350 per controller, with up to two controllers per property for a total of $2,700 rebate maximum per customer.
READ ME: Rebate Requirements (PDF)
Rain & Soil Moisture Shut-off Switch Rebates
Rebates are available to customers who modify an existing irrigation controller to include a district-approved rain or soil moisture shut-off device. Rebates are equal to the purchase price of the device, up to $100.
READ ME: Rebate Requirements (PDF)
Master Shut-off Valve Rebates
When an irrigation system is modified to include a new, District-approved master shut-off valve, the district will provide a rebate equal to the net purchase price of the valve, up to $100.00.
READ ME: Rebate Requirements (PDF)
Flow Sensor Rebates
When an irrigation system is modified to include a new, District-approved flow sensor, the District will provide a rebate equal to the net purchase price of the device, up to $100.00.
READ ME: Rebate Requirements (PDF)
