Kyle’s pilot rebates for rain barrels and turf removal show modest uptake; staff recommends higher turf payouts and irrigation‑focused incentives

City conservation staff reported progress on two pilot rebate programs — a rain‑barrel rebate (up to $200) and a turf‑replacement rebate (initially $250/$500 structure, revised to $1 per sq. ft. up to $250) — and requested council direction on next steps.

Water conservation coordinator Jessica Wright said the rain‑barrel pilot has seen slower but steady adoption (20 applicants so far this fiscal year with several in progress) and that rain barrels’ water savings are highly variable because they depend on rainfall timing and barrel size. The turf‑removal pilot is showing clearer per‑applicant water savings when turf is replaced with native plants or other low‑water landscaping; staff changed the payment mechanism to $1 per square foot (up to $250) to reduce eligibility friction and support smaller projects.

Wright recommended boosting the turf‑replacement payout and adding a new irrigation‑focused rebate tied to customer service visits: staff (or a trained contractor) would perform on‑site irrigation audits and controllers programming, then customers could get rebates for smart controllers, rain sensors, pressure‑regulating heads or removing inefficient zones. Staff cited peer programs (San Antonio, New Braunfels) in which combined audits and targeted hardware upgrades returned larger per‑month water savings — roughly 1,500 gallons per month in comparable programs.

Council members generally supported maintaining the pilot budgets and exploring bulk procurement or partnership approaches to reduce rain‑barrel unit cost, and they favored the irrigation‑audit concept since it couples technical help with hardware incentives. Staff said they would pursue grant opportunities and report back with revised budget recommendations if council wanted larger payouts.