Your lawn will suffer amid the megadrought. Save money and put it out of its misery

It’s going to be a summer of brown grass and hard choices for Southern California lawn owners facing the Metropolitan Water District’s one-day-a-week watering restrictions starting June 1. “But if your lawn is just ornamental, it’s indefensible given the reality of our water situation here.” Rebecca Kimitch, a Metropolitan Water District spokesperson, put it more bluntly: “‘As we always say, ‘If you’re only on your grass to mow it, then get rid of it.’” But turf advocates like Baird see the demise of Southern California lawns as short-sighted. You can get money for letting your lawn die, if you have a plan The Metropolitan Water District’s Turf Replacement Program pays $2 a square foot for up to 5,000 square feet of lawn converted to approved “water-wise” uses in residential front or back yards, and some local agencies offer an additional rebate on top of that, which could mean a bigger payout once your work is completed and approved. That’s one of the reasons replacing a fescue lawn with a more drought-tolerant turf grass like Bermuda won’t qualify for the rebate, said Krista Guerrero, water efficiency specialist for the Metropolitan Water District.