Valley Water pays $2 a square foot to replace a lawn, up to $3,000 for most homes
Get approval before you dig. Projects started before Valley Water signs off do not qualify.
Santa Clara Valley Water, the county's water wholesaler, pays a base rate of $2 per square foot to replace a lawn or pool with low-water landscaping, according to its Landscape Rebate page.
Single-family homes and buildings with four or fewer units can get up to $3,000 total, or up to $6,000 in some cost-sharing areas. Larger properties can get up to $100,000. Other rebates cover switching sprinklers to drip tubing, efficient irrigation gear such as weather-based controllers, and rain barrels, cisterns and rain gardens.
Do not start first: Projects started or finished before approval are not eligible, the agency says. Apply online with photos and the area's size, pass a pre-inspection, then wait for a written Notice to Proceed. You then have 90 days to finish. After a final inspection, checks arrive in four to six weeks.
Funding lasts through June 30, 2027, or until it runs out. Valley Water also notes a new law bans watering grass nobody uses on public and commercial properties and homeowner association common areas starting January 2027.
Questions: (408) 630-2554.