Phoenix homeowners looking to convert their yards to more drought-tolerant landscaping can now get paid by the city for removing grass. Under the city’s Residential Grass Removal Incentive program, which began this week, qualifying homeowners can get $2 per square foot of grass removed.
“Phoenix has always had a culture of conservation; we’ve been seeing residents remove grass from their yards for many years,” said Phoenix Water Services deputy director Max Wilson. “What we’re hoping to do with this program is just speed up that process and ensure people are living with the yards that they want and are not being limited by cost to convert.”
To qualify, homeowners must be Phoenix Water Services customers, they must be planning to remove at least 250 square feet of healthy, living grass, and they must meet other eligibility requirements. Residents must have applications approved by the city before they begin converting landscaping.
The new program is launching with a $5 million budget that includes funding from Arizona’s Water Infrastructure Finance Authority and from the Phoenix Water Services Department general rate base. Incentive payments will be awarded on a first-come-first-served basis.
This is the first time Phoenix has offered grass removal incentives directly to residents. The city began offering businesses, schools and homeowners’ associations similar incentives earlier this year.
Phoenix in 2022 activated the first stage of its Drought Management Plan, acknowledging that a warming climate and a prolonged drought could make water shortages likely in the future. Under the Stage 1 Water Alert, the city does not require residents to cut back on water use, but encourages voluntary conservation.
Wilson said for most residential water customers, the bulk of water consumption isn’t coming from the dishwasher or the shower, but the lawn.
“When folks are trying to figure out how they can best save water, the first place they should look is outside their home at their landscaping,” Wilson said.
Wilson said users can save about 50 gallons of water per year for each square foot of grass replaced with desert plants.
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