Local guide · Weber & Davis County
Weber Basin will pay you $2.50 a square foot to remove your lawn
Written and reviewed by the design team at Edge Design Company, Ogden, Utah. Program details verified against Weber Basin Water Conservancy District published rules, July 2026. Always confirm current terms with the District before you start.
There is a program running right now that will pay you to tear out your lawn, and most homeowners in Weber and Davis County have never heard of it.
The Weber Basin Water Conservancy District runs the Landscape Lawn Exchange. Remove living lawn, replace it with water-wise planting, and the District pays you $1.25 to $2.50 per square foot — up to $50,000 per property. Take out 1,000 square feet of grass in a $2.50 city and that is $2,500 back toward a yard you actually wanted anyway.
It is a real, funded program. It is also easy to disqualify yourself from in about ten minutes of enthusiasm with a sod cutter. So read the next section before you touch anything.
The one mistake that costs people thousands
The District has to send someone out to look at your lawn while it is still living and in place to measure the area you are converting. No lawn at the site visit means nothing to measure — and no money. Apply first. Get approved. Then start.
What it pays, and where
The rate depends on your city, because it is tied to whether the city has adopted water-efficient landscape standards.
$2.50 per square foot: Clearfield, Clinton, Farr West, Layton, Riverdale, Roy, South Ogden, Sunset, Syracuse, Uintah, Washington Terrace, West Haven, West Point, plus unincorporated Weber County (except Ogden Valley) and much of Davis County — Bountiful, Centerville, Farmington, Fruit Heights, Kaysville, North Salt Lake, West Bountiful and Woods Cross.
$1.25 per square foot: North Ogden, Pleasant View, Plain City, Harrisville, Hooper, Huntsville, Marriott-Slaterville, South Weber, Morgan City and Morgan County.
The program covers Weber, Davis, Morgan and Summit counties. If your city is not on either list, check Weber Basin’s “Who Is My Provider?” lookup before you write it off.
What actually qualifies
- At least 250 square feet of existing, living, healthy lawn removed.
- Low-water plants covering at least 35% of the converted area at maturity. Annuals and vegetable beds do not count.
- 3 to 4 inches of mulch — bark, rock or gravel.
- One drought-tolerant shade tree per 3,000 square feet of project area (exceptions for powerlines and existing canopy).
- Low-volume drip irrigation in every planting area — filters and pressure regulators, emitters rated 5 GPH or less, spray and drip on separate valves. No micro-spray, bubblers, or soaker hoses.
What does NOT qualify
Hardscape does not count. If you rip out lawn and pour a patio, lay pavers, or put down artificial turf, that square footage earns you nothing. The District is buying living, low-water landscape — not a hard surface.
Also not eligible: swapping lawn for a different drought-tolerant turfgrass, and replacing drip, mulch, rock or plants you already have.
The honest version: the incentive pays for the planted, water-wise portion of your yard. Design the whole space properly, and let the incentive offset the part it is actually meant to offset.
How the process runs
- Apply online at mywaterutah.org.
- Describe the lawn area coming out and what is going back in.
- Weber Basin schedules a virtual site visit over Zoom.
- Sign the program agreement (notarization required) and submit a W-9.
- Get approval. Now you can start.
- Finish within 12 months and submit completion photos.
- Book the final in-person inspection while irrigation is still on.
- Check arrives by mail, usually about three weeks after final approval.
Photograph everything: lawn before, lawn removed, irrigation converted, plants in, final with mulch.
Funding is first-come, first-served
Weber Basin funds it from a pot. When the pot is empty, applications get paused or denied. Projects already approved keep their funding — which is another argument for applying early in the season.
Where we come in
You do not need a designer to get the incentive. Plenty of people do it themselves.
Where we earn our keep is the part the program does not care about but you will live with for twenty years: whether the thing looks good. A lawn exchange done badly is a field of gravel with nine sad shrubs. Done well, it is the nicest part of the yard and costs almost nothing to water.
We design backyards around how Utah actually behaves — brutal July sun, alkaline soil, real winters — and plan planting so it hits that 35% coverage at maturity and reads as intentional. If you want to see it before it exists, we build 3D mockups.
And if the incentive does not fit your project, we will say so.
Common questions
How much does the Weber Basin lawn removal rebate pay?
$1.25 to $2.50 per square foot of living lawn removed and replaced with water-wise landscaping, up to $50,000 per property. Rate depends on your city.
Can I remove my lawn before applying?
No — and this permanently disqualifies you. The lawn must be living and in place for the initial site visit.
Does a patio or artificial turf qualify?
No. The program pays for living, low-water planting only.
How much lawn do I have to remove?
At least 250 square feet of existing, healthy, living lawn. You have 12 months from approval to finish.
Worth doing
Most rebate programs are not worth the paperwork. This one is. Two and a half dollars a square foot against a yard you were probably going to redo anyway is real money, and the water bill drops afterward.
Just apply before you kill the grass.
Thinking about converting a lawn? Talk to us first. We will tell you what qualifies, what does not, and what it will actually look like.
While you are at it: most Utah lawns are being over-watered. Here is how long you should actually run your sprinklers.