Here is the short answer first, since it often gets buried. The lawn rebates in Long Beach and Orange County do not pay for artificial turf. The programs say so in plain words.
The big one is the Turf Replacement Program. It comes from the Metropolitan Water District, which sells water to most of the cities around us.
You don't always apply to Metropolitan directly. Depending on your water agency, you may go through a site called SoCal Water$mart, through the Municipal Water District of Orange County, or through a city program like the one in Long Beach. Your water bill shows who your agency is, and they can tell you which program you use.
We install turf for a living, so you might expect us to fudge this. We won't. A clear answer now saves you from a bad surprise after the grass is gone.
What the lawn rebate pays for
Metropolitan's program page says: "synthetic turf is not an approved conversion option for this program." The goal is to swap grass for living, drought tolerant plants. So the money goes to gardens, not to turf.
A project usually needs a few things to earn the rebate. Metropolitan's rules include:
- A set number of living plants for the area you convert.
- A stormwater feature, like a rain garden or a dry creek bed, that holds rain on site.
- No hard surface in the converted area unless water can soak through it.
- Overhead spray sprinklers swapped out or changed, often to drip.
The rebate is paid by the square foot, and some local water agencies add more on top. We don't list the amounts here on purpose. They differ from agency to agency, they change often, and funding is not guaranteed. Your water agency's rebate page has the current figure for your address.
Why turf doesn't qualify, and what that means for you
The program pays for water savings, and it wants living plants and soil that soaks up rain. Turf saves water too, since it never needs a sprinkler. But these programs were not built to fund it.
Long Beach is the same story. The city's own lawn programs, run by Long Beach Utilities, only take homes that still have a living lawn to replace. A city memo from May 2026 spells this out, and it adds that homes that already have artificial turf can't join.
So if someone tells you turf comes with a city or water rebate in Long Beach or Orange County, ask them to show you the program in writing. We haven't found one.
What this means in real life is simple. If you want turf, plan the budget without a rebate. If the rebate matters most, a planted garden is the way to get it, and turf is not part of that project.
How to use the rebate and still get turf
Some yards end up with both. A family might want a soft, green play area out back for the kids and the dog, and a low-water garden out front where nobody walks. The front garden may qualify for the rebate, and the back yard can be turf.
If you go that way, keep the two areas apart in your plans. The rebate covers the area you convert to plants, and turf is not allowed in that area. Ask the program how they want a mixed yard shown before you apply, since they approve the exact area.
The most important rule is timing. You must apply and get an approval to proceed before any grass comes out. Pull up the lawn first and that area can't earn the rebate. We wrote a full page on that one rule, apply before you dig, because it is an easy mistake to make and you can't undo it.
Not sure which path fits your yard? Our side-by-side of turf and a rebate garden lays out where each one wins. And if you live in an HOA, read what California law says about HOAs and turf before you buy either one.
Rules beyond the rebate matter too. Since 2024 a city can limit turf again, as our page on city turf rules explains. Long Beach already keeps it out of parkways, see Long Beach turf rules. And businesses and HOA boards face a grass watering deadline under AB 1572.
When you're ready for the turf part, our crew handles it from measure to final brush. See our residential turf work, browse the Orange County cities we serve, or ask for a written quote.
Last checked October 22, 2026, on the local rebate pages. Rebate rules change, so check with your water agency before you plan on one.
