City of Lindsay offering rebates, incentives to encourage water conservation

LINDSAY, Calif. (KFSN) -- A Tulare County community is offering rebates and other incentives to help residents conserve water.

With California's drought only worsening, the city of Lindsay is working to conserve as much water as possible.

City Manager Joe Tanner says he sees people making an effort.

"A lot of it is just about educating folks and getting the word out and once we can do that, they genuinely understand and want to see the situation improve," says Tanner.

Two programs are currently in place to give residents a hand.

One is the utility assistance program that kicked off a while ago and is still available.

"Rent, the electric bill, water bill, that is all available for City of Lindsay residents," says Tanner.

The second and most recent, as of July, is the residential water efficiency rebate program.

"It's a turf replacement program where the city will reimburse up to $2 a square foot to take out your grass and put drought tolerant landscaping or artificial turf," says Tanner.

The city is also offering free showerheads and $35 per unit for toilet upgrades that save water.

Tanner says a $15,000 budget is allocated for the rebate program, and now residents interested just need to apply.

"It can be pretty expensive to make those sorts of improvements. You are eligible up to $800 worth to offset any of them which I think helps, especially in a community like ours," says Tanner.

He says the shift to using less water is part of the state's future - and they're trying to help the community transition.

"Just the way things are going in terms of the drought and water usage, I think grass is going to be a thing of the past in California overall," says Tanner.