Posted on July 10, 2014 by City of Sacramento

The City of Sacramento Department of Utilities offers the “River Friendly Landscaping” program to help customers remove their front yard turf and replace it with native and drought tolerant plants.

Qualified applicants may receive up to $1000 ($0.50 per square foot of turf removed) for their new landscape. Although overwhelming response has filled up all spots for this fiscal year, you can still sign up for an interest list for next year. (All customers who indicated interest before May 1, 2014 will be mailed an application on a first come, first served basis.)

Program Qualifications:

• River-Friendly Landscape Rebates are available to City of Sacramento residential water customers ONLY.
• Before any work is completed or turf is allowed to die or be removed, a Water Wise House Call must be completed so that the turf can be measured.
• All plants being used in the project must be on the list of qualified plants. To see a list of qualified plants, please click here.
• Drip irrigation must be installed for all new plant material.
• Customers with an automatic sprinkler system must also install a Smart Controller ($250 Smart Controller rebate will be included with the $0.50 per square foot for turf removal)
• Rebates are only available for front yard renovations.
• River-Friendly Landscape rebates are not retroactive. All eligible work must be completed after the initial inspection and review.