Applications for grant program due next week
By GENEVA WHITMARSH Daily Press Staff Writer
CITY HALL — Environmentalists here want to help residents save money and water by paying them up to $20,000 to watch their gardens grow.
Officials say nearly half of a homeowner’s water is used for landscaping, a costly practice that also puts the city’s water supply at risk. Santa Monica currently imports more than 90 percent of its water from Northern California and the Colorado River, approximately 400 miles away, city officials said.
With the goal of curbing city-wide water use by 20 percent within six years, City Hall has expanded its water efficiency incentive programs by creating a landscape grant program. A maximum of $80,000 total will be awarded on a bi-annual basis as long as funds are available. City Hall will cover half the cost of a proposed project — up to $20,000. Funds may be used for plant material, irrigation systems, water-saving features or design and construction costs. The money will not cover maintenance, officials said.
Established this year, the program provides partial funding for new or remodeled innovative garden designs that demonstrate sustainable practices, which include California native plants, water-efficient plants, water-efficient irrigation systems, storm water runoff systems, or innovative water-saving features.
Research shows that converting turf and other water-thirsty plants, as well as traditional, high-volume spray sprinkler irrigation systems to California friendly plants and water-efficient irrigation systems can save up to 80 percent of water and 60 percent of maintenance costs, official said. Water-efficient gardens produce less yard waste, reduce the need for harmful chemicals and polluting maintenance equipment, officials said. They also produce habitat beneficial to birds and insects.
Dean Kubani, City Hall’s coordinator of the Sustainable City program, has an environmentally friendly garden and so far, he is pleased with the results.
“I think the main benefits for me are that I’m saving a lot of water and saving a lot of money,” he said. “I actually use my front yard because now it’s an enclosed space that attracts butterflies and is much lower maintenance.
“When we had a lawn, all we did was mow it.”
If more people in Santa Monica grew their gardens like City Hall suggests, it would save a lot of water.
“We definitely know that the majority of the water waste is happening in landscapes, and if we get a lot of people converting front lawns into these sustainable landscapes, that’s going to get us a lot farther in our 2010 goal,” Kubani said.
The money that will be used for the grant program was generated by fees on residents’ water bills.
“It comes from an existing fund that the city already had to give out low-interest loans for this kind of purpose,” said Bob Gilbreath, a water resources specialist at City Hall. “The way the whole thing was originally structured established an interest rate that just wasn’t attractive, so no one has been applying for it. So we went back to the City Council to convert it to a grant program and they approved it.”
Individuals, property owners, businesses, non-governmental organizations and public agencies may apply. Any property within Santa Monica is eligible, including single-family, multi-family, commercial, institutional, and private and public properties.
“This is not a lawn only program, this allows someone to ask for help for any kind of project for water conservation in Santa Monica,” Gilbreath said. “If someone felt strongly that teaching school children about water conservation, or that type of thing, they could apply, as well as someone simply saying ‘I want to take out my lawn and put in a sustainable garden.’ It somewhat leaves it up to the imagination of the applicant.”
Each applicant must submit a proposal along with the required documentation noted on the application. City staff will review each proposal and assign a score based upon specific evaluation criteria. The proposals will then be ranked based on total scores. Based upon the number of applications, total fund requests and available funds per cycle, applicants with the highest rank will be granted funds.
The deadline for the grant is Sept. 30. Applications can be downloaded from the city’s Web site and more information can be obtained at www.smepd.com.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on September 24, 2004. Read the original PDF.