A Lake San Marcos homeowners association successfully upgraded its community landscape to achieve water savings and cost savings with assistance from a joint program offered through a partnership between the San Diego County Water Authority and the County of San Diego.

The Landscape Optimization Service (LOS) offered through the Waterscape Rebate Program is a technical assistance program for large-scale landscaping projects in the unincorporated areas of San Diego County. The program helps applicants with large landscapes, such as HOAs, parks, and commercial properties, to navigate the requirements, overcome any barriers, and maximize their rebate eligibility.

Members of the Fairways Homeowners Association (HOA) in Lake San Marcos within the Vallecitos Water District recently took advantage of this program to facilitate a water-saving landscape makeover project. Upgrades replaced large grass areas with attractive low-water-use plants inside the property. Drip irrigation was upgraded, and swales act as a water retention feature.

Learn more about the Fairways HOA transformation in this new video.

Saving Costs, Saving The Environment

Fairways HOA president Terry Brown said her community was introduced to the program about 18 months ago.

“We removed 23,000 square feet, and then we got three dollars for each square foot that we removed, plus we got 40 cents for the drip irrigation system. We’re going to receive one dollar per square foot for at least 10,000 square feet of California native plants. So, we did all of that. And we’re pleased with everything that has happened,” said Brown.

While rebates defrayed the initial costs, the real savings will be realized in the years ahead on one of the HOA’s major expenses. “Within ten years, we’ll save $40,000 on water,” said Brown.

Maggie Knol, chairperson of the Landscape Committee, is also a Master Gardener. She understood the need to balance the needs of everyone in the community while planning their landscape makeover.

“We saw certain areas that weren’t really being used where we could definitely have some waterscape landscaping,” said Knol. Now, irrigation water is better managed and used only where needed.

“We have no water in the gutters. That makes us feel better about what we’re doing for our environment,” said Knol. “I would encourage any subdivision or any area to go ahead with it. It’s a wonderful program.

Still Room for Thoughtful Use of Grass 

Makeovers don’t require eliminating all grass. Instead, grass is retained where it is most useful and practical. For the Fairways HOA board members, this meant accommodating the many residents who like to walk their dogs in the neighborhood and wanted to retain some grassy spaces for them to enjoy with their pets.

“We have tried to be sensitive to the dog owners in the neighborhood because we have a lot of dogs,” said Knol. “When we mapped this out, we left certain areas that could be definitely used as little rest spots for the dogs and the owners as they walk around. They all realize that the water crisis is going to continue and not get better.”

“This project is an ideal example of balancing community needs to create a thoughtful landscape design that saves water but allows room for retaining grass areas when there’s a practical purpose for them,” said Vallecitos Water District Conservation Supervisor Chris Robbins.

As part of the program, LOS staff analyzes estimated water and cost savings, which helps decision-makers justify the investment with an understanding of how quickly the project will pay for itself. The program also offers discounted designs to participants.

The enhanced incentives include rebates for turf replacement, smart controller stations, rain barrels, and cisterns. In addition to offering technical assistance to upgrade larger landscapes on multifamily and commercial properties, a cost-share is available for agricultural growers to make water-saving upgrades.

More information on the Landscape Optimization Service can be found here, or contact your member water agency for details. The program is actively recruiting new participants.