The City of Chandler offers a variety of water conservation rebates to incentivize reductions in water use. One of these programs, the turf to xeriscape rebate for large landscape HOA customers, received a $1 million grant last year from the Arizona Water Infrastructure Finance Authority (WIFA) to provide increased funding for grass removal in HOA common areas not actively used for recreation by the community. Chandler’s turf to xeriscape rebates incentivize the removal of grass and require landscapes that include shade and native low-water-use plants. Turf to xeriscape rebates are available to both individual single-family residential customers, as well as large landscape customers such as commercial properties, multi-family housing complexes, and neighborhood HOAs serving grassy common areas.
The Sun Groves community in southeast Chandler recently took advantage of the large landscape rebate for grass removal.
Cindy Lucas, Community Manager for the Sun Groves HOA, explained their process for converting grass to xeriscape.
Lucas mentioned that their HOA first funded grass removal several years ago. When asked why the specific areas of their community were selected, she said the grass was non-functional. “Kids weren’t using it to play, it didn’t look good, you could barely see it from the street and the turf and drainage always struggled.”
The HOA board of directors and the management company were both supportive of the grass removal project.
The first phase of the grass removal project converted five small grass areas to xeriscape. The project was on hold for several years until the city increased the rebate up to $75,000 per project, offering 25% reimbursement of the project cost, plus an additional $3 per square foot for removing non-functional grass. With the increase in funding, the HOA decided to move forward with phase two, that focused on the largest grass area in their community. This phase took a couple of months to complete.
“We would have never done as much without the increased funding from the city,” Lucas continued. “The first time, the city covered 63% of the cost and this time (phase two), the city covered 75% of the cost.”
She said that the communication to their community has been about savings, both money and water. “I focus on the value and benefit of getting all of these plants and they are low water use and drought tolerant which in turn creates the cost savings. The areas weren’t aesthetically pleasing or useful and obviously water conservation played a role. In Arizona, that is always in the back of our minds.”
The grass removal rebate is available to any HOA community in Chandler receiving landscape irrigation water from Chandler's water utility. Lucas had some tips for other HOA management companies and boards who want to take advantage of this program. She suggested that the HOA should reach out to Chandler’s water conservation team in the very early stages of their planning process and get familiar with the program requirements. She also stressed that the landscaper should be heavily involved from the beginning.
Speaking about the process to apply for the rebate, Lucas said, “It was really easy. Honestly, for that amount of funding, how easy the application process and how easy the city made it was wonderful.”
When asked if Sun Groves had to make any changes to CC&Rs for individual residents’ properties because of this grass conversion, she said that their community doesn’t require overseeding and only requires 11 plants in the front yard. As a result, no changes were needed.
Lucas said that Sun Groves also took advantage of another service funded by Chandler’s Water Conservation department. The city helped them set up a a free account with Waterfluence, a software program that helps the community understand their water budget and the irrigation needs for their specific landscape. It also allows the community to see their actual monthly water usage compared to their customized water budget. Each community is mapped with aerial imagery to calculate a water budget based on the weather and their specific landscape irrigation needs for each area of grass, trees and plants in their common areas. Even before the grass removal project, Sun Groves HOA was only using 36% of its water budget. Lucas said this was positive news to give to their homeowners.
In 2024, Chandler funded approximately $500,000 of grass to xeriscape conversions through water conservation rebates for both residential and non-residential sites in Chandler, resulting in about 309,000 square feet of grass removed.
To qualify for a grass removal rebate, grass must have been actively irrigated in the past year and be removed and replaced with low-water-use native plants to create a permanent reduction in water use. The single-family residential rebate is $2 per square foot of grass removed, up to $3,000.
For large landscape grass removal customers, the rebate program reimburses up to $75,000 per project, 25% of the total project cost, plus an additional incentive of $3 per square foot of non-functional grass removed. Non-functional grass refers to areas that are not used for recreational purposes and/or narrow strips of grass that are along a street and/or on a slope.
For more information about Chandler’s rebates for residents and commercial properties, visit Chandler Water Conservation or call 480-782-3580.