Castle Rock is more than doubling the budget for its Coloradoscape rebate program to meet the demand from residents and commercial property owners who are changing out grass for more drought-resistant landscaping.
Castle Rock Water offers property owners rebates up to $2.50 per square foot of land where high-water use plants are switched for water-friendly landscaping, such as Coloradoscaping, where a combination of native plants, low-water plants and hardscaping is used.
The original 2024 budget dedicated $350,000 to the program for rebates, but the demand far outpaced that budget, town officials said. The town council approved an additional $455,000 for the rebate program this year to fund the eligible requests.
Castle Rock Water Director Mark Marlowe said the program is an impactful way for the town to conserve water.
“It’s a huge benefit to reduce our outdoor irrigation, which is an expensive water supply,” Marlowe said.
This year, 157 residential projects and 15 non-residential projects qualified for Castle Rock’s rebates, resulting in more than 310,000 square feet of land converted to low-water use landscaping.
Castle Rock Water estimates that 1,000 gallons of water are saved per square foot of converted land each year. For residents, the rebate program will cover 400-1,500 square feet, and for commercial projects, rebates will cover 1,500-15,000 square feet.
Residential customers see an average 17% decrease in their outdoor water usage after converting.
Reducing outdoor water usage is important for Castle Rock because outdoor irrigation makes up 40-45% of total water usage, Marlowe said.
“Removing this high-water using turf has a huge impact on reducing that outdoor irrigation,” Marlowe said.
Through the water savings from Coloradoscaping, Castle Rock Water predicts saving $70-100 million in future infrastructure and water purchases.
Coloradoscape efforts will also help make Castle Rock’s water system more sustainable because reducing outdoor water use increases the amount of water that can be recaptured and reused.
“Most of the water (used in outdoor irrigation) gets used by the grass or evaporates, compared to indoor use where it goes down the drain and comes back to us directly,” Marlowe said.
Rebates are closed for 2024, but the program will reopen in 2025. Property owners should apply for the rebate before starting the renovation process.
