Albuquerque pays you to replace your lawn
$3 per square foot, with no cap published — Desert-Friendly Xeriscape Conversion Rebate, Albuquerque Bernalillo County Water Utility Authority.
| Lawn replaced | Rebate |
|---|---|
| 500 ft² | $1,500 |
| 1,000 ft² | $3,000 |
| 1,500 ft² | $4,500 |
| 2,000 ft² | $6,000 |
| 3,000 ft² | $9,000 |
At $3/ft². Your own measurement decides the number.
What the programme asks for
- A landscape plan? Yes — required before work begins.
- In the agency's words:
Draw a simple landscape plan or submit a plan designed by a professional. List each plant (using the scientific name) and rebate allowance points on the landscape plan
- Plants must come from: ABCWUA Xeriscaping Guide plant list
These programmes are first-come and funded annually. Being listed here means the agency was accepting applications on that date — not that money is still available today. Denver's 2026 allocation was gone by mid-year. Check the agency page before you count on it.
Planning the new yard
Every one of these programmes turns on the same thing: what you plant, and how much of the ground it covers when it is grown. That is a design question, and getting it wrong is what a rejected application looks like.
Our plant library lists 2,500 plants with hardiness zone, sun and water need — free to browse. Sign in and it checks each one against your own zone. If you would rather see the finished yard before you commit, upload a photo of it.
Other cities in the pilot: Tempe, Mesa, Chandler, Austin · see all five