That green lawn worth some green

Now, two weeks after removing more than 500 square feet of the expansive lawn that fronted his Ridley Avenue home, Alexander's water use has dropped 150 gallons a day.

He expects that savings will translate into a $15 to $20 monthly reduction in his water bill.

It also resulted in a one-time windfall from the city, which paid Alexander $250 for removing the grass.

Under a program called "Cash for Grass" that started July 1, Santa Rosa is paying home and business owners 50 cents a square foot, up to $250 and $2,500 respectively, to rip out water-intensive lawns.

The program also offers a second financial perk: the city will pay home and business owners up to $350 and $3,500, respectively, to install pre-approved water conservation hardware, such as drip irrigation, moisture sensors and high-efficiency sprinklers.

Dan Muelrath, the city water conservation representative, said the new program is catching on rapidly.

Ten Santa Rosa homeowners already have ripped up more than 4,400 square feet of lawn and 75 to 100 more are awaiting city inspections before they can dig up their grassy areas to qualify for a city check.

"We are booked up six weeks in advance," said Muelrath, who noted the city must be sure "the grass is green and regularly mowed" before it pays out any money.

"Some call us and their lawn is brown or it's full of weeds and they tell us it used to be lawn," he said. "That doesn't count."

Muelrath said the goal of the three-year program is to reduce citywide irrigation water use by 200 million gallons a year. The city set aside $500,000 for the payments.

"This is the optimal year to roll this out," Muelrath said, citing the drought-like conditions that have prompted calls for a 15 percent reduction in water use throughout the county. "The awareness about water supply is tremendous."

It certainly caught Alexander's eye when he stopped by the city's booth at a recent Wednesday Night Market and signed up to have his yard inspected for the cash-for-grass incentive program.

Alexander, a real estate consultant, said he began thinking about water conservation when his monthly use hit 38,000 gallons in July 2006 and his bill exceeded $125.

His expansive front lawn, which wraps around his corner lot, was a large part of the problem, Alexander said. "It's large enough to kick a soccer ball across," he said.

To reduce his bill, Alexander said he began switching to more efficient landscape irrigation techniques and even replaced some lawn with a graveled parking area.

By last month his use dropped to 25,000 gallons and his bill to just over $95. Still, he was looking for more water and financial savings, hence the cash-for-grass opportunity.

"I'm by no means wealthy," he said.

Two weeks ago, after receiving the city's go-ahead, he ripped out more then 500 square feet of lawn squeezed into a 100-foot-long median strip that fronts his property, an area between the sidewalk and curb that is the property owner's responsibility.

He replaced the grass with some black-and-pepper rock and some drought-tolerant plants, the latter approved under the city's conservation program.

"Our goal is not to replace everything with rock and cactus or to pave everything over," Muelrath said.

Alexander is awaiting the arrival of his $250 city check and his next water bill to get an idea how much his effort will save his family of three.

But he knows one thing: the $50 he expects to save on his monthly water bills in the future from the various conservation efforts he's undertaken should quickly reimburse him for the $750 he spent to tear out his lawn and replace it with the rock and plants.

"It will take me 10 months to recoup what I spent but I didn't do it for the money," he said. "I did it to do my part. It's my green contribution."

You can reach Staff Writer Mike McCoy at 521-5276 or mike.mccoy@pressdemocrat.com.