Last fall, Mayor Eric Garcetti issued an executive directive calling for a 20 percent reduction in water use by 2017 in Los Angeles, and now the city is in the process of spreading the word about its “Save the Drop” campaign.
The city has created a number of tools to help residents reach the goal. These include an increase in the lawn replacement rebate to $3.75 per square foot for the first 1,500 square feet of residential turf replaced with water-wise landscaping features. Outdoor water use is critical to tackling the drought—it accounts for 50 percent of residential consumption.
Other suggestions include installing a weather-based irrigation controller that stops sprinklers when it rains.
Residents can qualify for $200 per controller for less than one acre of irrigated landscape; $35 per station for one acre or more of irrigated landscape.
Before purchasing a water-reduction product, go to the SoCal Water$mart website and see which items are eligible http://socalwatersmart.com/qualifyingproducts.
LADWP offers a number of other conservation and rebate/incentive programs. These include free items such as 1.5 gallon per minute (gpm) bathroom faucet aerators; 1.5 gpm kitchen faucet aerators, and 2.0 gpm showerheads. You can pick up these free items at any Customer Service Centers including Slauson/Vermont, 5928 S. Vermont Ave.; in Watts, 1686 E. 103rd St.; Central, 4619 S. Central Ave.; Crenshaw, 4030 Crenshaw Blvd; and Hollywood, 6547-B Sunset Blvd.
For an even more efficient showerhead that uses only 1.5 gpm, call the Water Conservation Hotline at (800) 544-4498 and press ‘5’.
For a complete list of free water conservation items and tips, go to the website https://www.ladwp.com.
