West Basin mobilizes $1 million in turf replacement grants ahead of 2027 state ban

West Basin mobilizes $1 million in turf replacement grants ahead of 2027 state banThe California water district is leveraging Metropolitan Water District funding to offer up to $7 per square foot for grass removal, shifting its outreach focus to commercial properties lagging in compliance.

West Basin has reserved nearly $1 million in grant funding for 10 commercial and public applicants to remove non-functional turf.

The district is urgently targeting commercial warehouse and office properties ahead of the January 1, 2027, state ban on irrigating non-functional grass.

West Basin partnered with online platform Yardzen to provide custom landscape designs for residents, aiming to remove initial design barriers for turf replacement.

The committee also advanced a $30,000 contract amendment with EcoTech Services, Inc., bringing its parkway beautification contract to $180,000.

West Basin Municipal Water District is accelerating water conservation initiatives to help public agencies and commercial properties comply with California's upcoming ban on irrigating non-functional turf (NFT) with drinking water. During a February 19 committee meeting, district staff reported that nearly $1 million in Metropolitan Water District (MWD) grant funding has been reserved for 10 commercial and public applicants. These local efforts build on a massive regional initiative; MWD has invested nearly $1 billion in conservation programs, helping drive a 45 percent reduction in per capita potable water use across Southern California since 1990 and transforming nearly 230 million square feet of water-intensive lawns region-wide. A temporary rebate increase to $7 per square foot successfully spurred large-scale reservations, including $266,000 for a 38,000-square-foot project by the City of Redondo Beach and $166,733 for a commercial property in Inglewood. With the state's NFT irrigation ban set to take effect for public sites on January 1, 2027, and commercial businesses on January 1, 2028, West Basin is shifting its strategic outreach. District staff noted that while municipal entities have been highly proactive in removing turf from public spaces, commercial property owners remain a compliance challenge. "The public sector folks have taken a lot of advantage of this upfront," Director Scott Houston noted during the meeting. "The next group we're going to have to definitely go after is those commercial property owners... they're probably going to wait till the 11th hour to try to do something." To drive participation, district staff are meeting with city managers and public works directors across West Basin's 17 cities, while coordinating with chambers of commerce and the South Bay Association of Realtors to educate property owners and homeowner associations about the impending regulations. To address design bottlenecks in residential turf replacement, West Basin has also formed a technology partnership with online design platform Yardzen. Supported by a U.S. Bureau of Reclamation drought resiliency grant and partnered with Las Virgenes Municipal Water District, the initiative provides custom landscape designs in the Malibu and Topanga communities. Following a soft launch that saw a 50 percent open rate on targeted emails, the district plans a full launch of the Yardzen program in April. In a separate procurement action, the committee advanced a $30,000 contract amendment with EcoTech Services, Inc. for the district's Parkway Beautification Program. Funded by the MWD, the amendment brings the total contract to $180,000 to construct additional water-conserving parkway landscapes for low-income residents.