Waterscape Rebate Program

 

 

Native Plants at Rancho Buena Creek HOA

Receive an extra $1/sq. ft. to install native plants on all or part of your Turf Replacement project.

Native plants help connect your home to the natural world. Adding native plants to your yard supports regional biodiversity, improves soil health, and can help you conserve even more water.

Join the growing native plant movement to bring nature back into your neighborhood and claim an extra rebate while you’re at it! You’ll also benefit from reduced maintenance effort and costs in the future.

 

 

What are the benefits?

Benefit #1

Bring back the pollinators.

Native plants attract beautiful butterflies, bees, and birds. Beneficial wildlife helps keep your landscape healthy and preserves our local ecosystems.

 

Benefit #2

Beautify your yard.

Make your yard uniquely yours with diverse collections of native plants that add new colors, aromas, sounds, and textures

 

Benefit #3

Reduce your water use and maintenance costs.

While no landscape is maintenance-free, native plant landscapes require less fertilizer, water, pesticides, and maintenance than a traditional grass-based or non-native yard. 

 

Benefit #4

Support your local economy.

Encouraging the use of native plants in landscaping bolsters local demand for native plant products and professional services, benefiting the regional economy.

How much is my rebate?

Participants can receive an extra $1 per sq. ft. of area that they plant with native plants as part of a turf replacement project – through the County of San Diego’s Waterscape Rebate Program or SoCal WaterSmart.

This rebate is capped at 2,000 sq. ft. for all properties.

If you’re a multifamily or commercial property participating in the Landscape Optimization Service program, you are eligible for enhanced native plant incentives. Visit the Landscape Optimization Service page to learn more.

Who's eligible?

The following criteria must be fulfilled for all projects:

1. You are installing native plants on a residential, multifamily, or commercial property located in unincorporated San Diego County. Visit the Program Eligibility page to see if your property is eligible.

AND

2. You are implementing an eligible turf conversion project through either the Waterscape Rebate Program or SoCal WaterSmart. You must provide your application number and Notice to Proceed (NTP) from the corresponding program in order to receive the rebate. The inquiry form for the Native Plant Incentive rebate must be submitted no more than 60 days after the participant’s SoCal WaterSmart or Turf Replacement NTP was issued.

Natives Plants at San Diego Country Estates Association

What are the requirements?

VERY IMPORTANT: PROJECTS MUST NOT BE STARTED BEFORE APPLYING FOR AND RECEIVING APPROVAL TO PROCEED.

In order to receive the Native Plant Incentive, every project must:

  1. Be planted with 100% native plants in the area indicated in the Native Plant Incentive rebate application. Each species of installed plant must be listed on Calscape.org. Artificial turf is not permitted. 
  2. Install 3 native plants per 100 sq. ft. of area transformed.
  3. Install a 3-inch layer of organic mulch in the identified project area.
  4. Follow all requirements of the relevant turf replacement rebate project that native plants are added to.
  5. Achieve 70% coverage of plants after three years on slopes greater than 3 feet high and with a gradient of 25% (4:1) or more. The minimum slope plant spacing shall be 10 feet on-center.

Additional resources can be found at the County’s Native Landscape Program Resources Page.

Submit an Interest Form to Get Started

If you’d like free one-on-one support to plan your project, check your eligibility, or apply for rebates, just fill out our Interest Form. A member of our team will reach out to walk you through everything.

Submit an Interest Form

If you would like to proceed with an application

You may access the application form to the right

 

For all applications, you will need to submit:

  1. A site plan with designated areas and square footage of native plants to be installed.
  2. 8 color photos of area(s) where native plants will be installed (pre-project, no work completed). 
  3. Reach out to program staff for guidance if the native plants you plan to install will be germinated from home or procured via cuttings.

To receive your rebate after completion:

  1. 8 color photos of the area where turf has been removed (post-project, all work completed) showing the required plant coverage and density.
  2. Receipts that include the species names and quantities of all plants installed.

 

 

Waterscape Rebate Program Home Page | Watershed Protection Program Home Page