City officials are calling on the Department of Water and Power to refocus its water conservation rebate programs after an audit released Friday showed more than $30 million in financial incentives had a relatively small effect on residents' overall conservation efforts.
An audit performed by City Controller Ron Galperin's office found that the DWP's turf replacement program yielded the lowest return on investment when compared with other conservation programs.
According to the audit, the DWP spent $17.8 million on rebates for residential and commercial turf replacement, which are expected to save an estimated 350 gallons for every dollar invested over ten years. In a comparison, $14.9 million was spent on rebates for installing high-efficiency appliances, which yield a savings of more than 1,700 gallons for every dollar invested by DWP, Galperin's office said.
"If money is no object, turf replacement rebates are a relatively expedient way to way to save water. But, of course, money is an object," said Galperin.
At a press conference Friday, Galperin said the turf replacement program, called "Cash in Your Lawn," had value as a "gimmick" and was intended to attract attention and publicity.
Auditors found that all of DWP's incentive programs combined resulted in a per-capita drop in water use of 2.6 gallons per day between the 2013-14 and 2014-15 fiscal years.
The DWP's turf replacement program accounted for water savings of about half a gallon per person per day. During that same period, consumers cut their overall water use by 22 gallons per person per day. Those acting without special financial incentives, accounted for 88 percent of the cuts in reducing per capita daily use.
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In a statement, the DWP said its conservation programs have done better that other program in the southwestern U.S. It also defended its rebate programs as important options for its customers and said Los Angeles is on track to meet city and statewide conservation goals.
"Every gallon conserved each day by Angelenos collectively saves 4 million gallons of water per day, 4,500 acre feet per year, and $2.7 million annually. That is $27 million over 10 years. Based on these savings identified by the Controller, LADWP has certainly made smart investments in water conservation," said Marty Adams, LADWP senior assistant general manager for the water system.
Galperin called on the DWP to incentivize more water savings through its rate structure and to consider rebates based on water saved. He also recommended that the department channel money toward long-term investment in water infrastructure and technologies.
Galperin recommends more use of "smart meters" that can measure water use in real time, and that information can be sent to smartphones. Smart meters have already been launched in cities like Glendale and Burbank.
"It's very expensive to do these things, but quite frankly, buying the water is going to be expensive, too," he said.
To demonstrate how the money was distributed, the Controller's office produced a map of residential turf rebate recipients.
Ted Chen contributed to this report.
