Water customers with grass lawns in Ashland, Ore., are eligible for local
rebates if they remove their turf and sprinklers and replace them with xeriscaping, pavers or other low-maintenance landscape. The south Oregon town has been subject to an increasingly severe regional drought, and local officials took inspiration from similar incentive programs that have reduced water use in the Southwest.

The city of Ashland has become the first town in Oregon to offer rebates to homeowners willing to take out their sprinklers and turfgrass in exchange for drought-tolerant plants, mulch, pavers and other low water landscaping.

All of southern Oregon is in a severe drought, and the snowfall that the city depends on for water was so scant over the winter that local ski areas could not operate. Inspired by similar programs in California and the Southwest, Ashland is offering 75 cents a square foot for the first 1,000 square feet of lawn replaced, 50 cents a square foot for the next 1,000, and 25 cents a square foot for the next 1,000.

To qualify, residents must first get approval from the city, as well as from any homeowner's association boards or similar group. A lawn measuring 30 feet by 100 feet could be eligible for $1,500 in rebates, and the rules say projects larger than 3,000 square feet will be judged case by case.

The drought is so severe that residents who sign up for the lawn-replacement program will have to wait to plant drought-tolerant species until October, when water supplies are expected to be higher. The city is approving proposals and allowing homeowners to remove their turfgrass in the meantime.