LOS ANGELES — Mayor Karen Bass and state and local water officials announced Oct. 5 that the city will receive $19.1 million from the state for climate resilience projects, including one that will pay for free yard transformations in underserved LA communities.
About $14.6 million of the grant from the California Department of Water Resources’ or DWR Urban Community Drought Relief Grant Program will fund a free lawn replacement program that could save 77 million gallons of water each year. Under the program set to launch in 2024, qualifying Los Angeles Department of Water and Power or LADWP customers with single-family homes in LA’s underserved communities can have their lawns replaced, at no cost to them, with water-efficient landscapes installed by professional landscapers under contract with LADWP.
The grant funding is an example of the State’s recent partnerships with local agencies under the Go Golden Initiative. The grant announcement was made at the home of LADWP customers in the Harbor-Gateway community who received a free lawn transformation in 2022 when they offered to host a free LADWP hands-on workshop that taught LADWP customers how to replace their own lawn with California-Friendly landscaping.
LADWP estimates the direct install program could replace up to 1.75 million square feet of lawn over three years, translating into potential water savings of 77 million gallons each year, enough to serve nearly 3,000 LA customers per year.
The remainder of the state’s grant of $4.5 million will go toward the construction of the Dominguez Gap recycled water project in the City of Wilmington. This pipeline connection, funded by the DWR grant, is expected to supply LADWP with an additional 3.5 million gallons per day of advanced treated recycled water, offsetting the demand for drinking water equivalent to that used by 47,000 customers per year. The Dominguez Gap recycled water project is scheduled for completion by 2025.
Details: www.LADWP.com/water.