Castle Rock Water’s Water Conservation Rebate Incentive Program budget will increase 50% to $300,000 in 2024 thanks to recent Town Council approval.
The program provides rebates for indoor products like ultra-high efficiency toilets and whole-home water monitoring systems, but the focus of the $100,000 increase is to encourage customers to install ColoradoScapes.
As part of Castle Rock Water’s goal of reducing nonfunctional turf in the community by 30% in the next several decades, the rebate for turf removal and replacement with a water-wise ColoradoScape will increase from $1.50 per square foot to $2.50 per square foot. This amount is based on feedback from the 2023 community survey where more than half of respondents indicated that increasing the rebate would incentivize them to participate in a ColoradoScape conversion. Additionally, residents are no longer required to take the Water Wiser workshop to be eligible for the rebate.
The ColoradoScape rebate aims to encourage customers to replace grass lawn with regionally adaptive plants, and the full $2.50 per square foot can be requested when that is the case. If hardscapes, such as rock, patios or artificial turf are used to replace the grass, the rebate is a smaller amount. This rebate has proven to be an effective tool to reduce water usage, with residential customers who have made the switch seeing an average 16% water reduction and non-residential customers realizing a 28% decrease.
Customers can begin planning now to be ready to take advantage of this rebate when the application becomes available in spring 2024. The rebate requirements, as well as resources to help customers plan their ColoradoScape transformation, can be found at CRconserve.com. The site also includes a link to the State law requiring homeowners associations to allow residents to install low-water landscapes.
The rebates are provided on a first-come, first-served basis and available until funds are exhausted. Funding for the rebate program primarily comes from watering violations and surcharges for excess usage.
Get Town news straight to your inbox. Sign up online at CRgov.com/NotifyMe, or follow the Town on Facebook (facebook.com/CRgov), Twitter (@CRgov), Instagram (CRGOV) and LinkedIn (search Town of Castle Rock).
Need to talk to the Town? Dial 720-896-TOWN (8696) to reach a menu for help with frequently asked questions or live assistance during business hours.