City helps residents go green

Residents ripping out lawns in Cathedral City are still seeing green.

The city is contributing up to $500 to some homeowners who replace turf with low-water desert landscaping.

The reimbursement program is available in the Panorama neighborhood where broken sprinklers and standing water are a problem.

The city set aside $30,000 from a pool of money it receives from the state to promote conservation, said Deanna Pressgrove, city environmental conservation manager.

Resident Shilo Herrling has already uprooted grass in his front yard and installed desert plants.

“It is just so time-consuming. Trimming and mowing and watering, and then you do it all over again,” said Herrling, who is applying for the reimbursement for his low-water landscape.

Although cities such as Las Vegas have offered homeowners as much as $1 for every square foot of grass they remove, similar programs have been slow to take root in the Coachella Valley.