In March 2008, Cary Town Council approved new water conservation incentives to address the increasing need for water supply and demand management due to more regional pressure on the Town's water resources, increased use of water for irrigation by newer homes, and the occurrence of two severe droughts in the past 6 years.

The Town of Cary has a comprehensive Water Conservation Program aimed at reducing per capita use of potable water and associated capital facilities' needs over the long term.

Build Your Own Rain Barrel

Similar to the current rain barrel program, the Town of Cary is offering citizens the opportunity to purchase barrels and/or conversion kits to build their own rain barrel. The conversion kit is $16 and barrels are $34. A free workshop titled "How to Build Your Own Rain Barrel," will be held at Herb Young Community Center on July 14.

High Efficiency Toilet Retrofit Rebate

This program will provide a rebate of $150 per toilet to residential and business water customers who replace older toilets that use 3.5 gallons or more per flush with a WaterSense-certified high efficiency toilet (HET) that use 1.28 gallons per flush. The program begins June 3 and rebates will be issued on a first come, first served basis. The Town will issue a maximum of 400 rebates this year. Cary is a partner in EPA's WaterSense program.

Fact Sheet
Residential application (html)
Non-residential application (html)

Turf Buy Back

The Turf Buy Back program will offer property owners a $500 incentive to replace a minimum of 1,000 square feet of turf with either a natural area or a warm season grass. Studies comparing traditionally landscaped areas with naturally landscaped areas found water savings of 25-33 percent. Warm season grasses reportedly require 21 percent less water during the spring and summer.

Program guidelines
Fact sheet
Application (HTML)

Warm Season Grass Incentive

Properly maintained warm season grasses such as Bermuda, Zoysia, Centipede, and St. Augustine require less water in the summer than cool season grasses. This program would offer a reduction in irrigation meter fees to new developments that use warm season grass and incentives for citizens who replace fescue with warm season grass. Owners of properties benefiting from this program would be sent direct mail with information about warm season grass irrigation needs and encouraged to attend a warm season grass workshop.

Contact

For more information on these programs, contact Cary Water Conservation at (919) 380-2147.