The L.A. County Board of Supervisors recognized the winners of its Fourth Annual Green Leadership Awards on Tuesday. Taking home this year’s Public Agency Green Leadership Award was the Long Beach Water Department, which received the award for its Lawn-to-Garden program.
“These committed individuals and entities inspire others to follow their leadership,” said L.A. County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky. “The County is proud to honor them with its Green Leadership Award.”
The Water Department created the Lawn-to-Garden incentive program two years ago. Since that time, nearly 600 landscape transformations have been completed throughout the city. The program provides financial incentives to customers who tear out their grass lawns and replace them with drought-tolerant, environmentally friendly landscapes. Since roughly half of all residential water use occurs outdoors, the program aims to permanently reduce citywide water consumption by providing residents with an effective means to switch over to plants and landscapes that require less water and result in less energy use and urban runoff.
“On behalf of my fellow Commissioners and the Water Department, I want to express my sincere appreciation to L.A. County and the Board of Supervisors for recognizing our program,” said Frank Clarke, president of the Long Beach Board of Water Commissioners. “Water conservation will always play a key role in ensuring a more reliable water supply in our region, which makes it vital that programs of this nature continue to be supported and encouraged in the future.”
There are approximately 60,000 single-family homes in Long Beach, which means that even with 600 Lawn-to-Garden projects now complete, only one percent of Long Beach homes have gone through the program.
“We believe there is still so much that can be achieved through this program,” said Kevin Wattier, the Water Department’s general manager. “Water conservation remains by far the cheapest source of water, and it just makes sense that these kinds of cost-effective solutions for addressing our water supply situation are sought out and implemented.”
The Lawn-to-Garden Program remains open to new applicants. Funding for the program is made available by the Water Department and through a partnership with the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California. Current applicants and other interested customers can find out more about the incentive program and drought-tolerant landscaping in general, by visiting lblawntogarden.com . The Water Department will also be hosting its first annual citywide Lawn-to-Garden Tour on May 19, from 10am to 2pm. The free, self-guided tour will feature 30 homes that have successfully gone through the program. To sign up for the tour, visit lblawntogarden.com/tour .
