On March 23, 2016, the City of Menlo Park received a 2016 Silicon Valley Water Conservation Award in the category of Water Utility. After the governor announced mandatory water conservation requirements in June 2015, the Menlo Park Municipal Water District registered the highest cumulative water savings in the entire state of California at 47 percent, exceeding its 16 percent conservation standard by 31 percent. Menlo Park achieved this honor, thanks in part to its Lawn Be Gone rebate program and Conserve-A-Scape landscape design assistance programs. The City offers rebates up to $2 per square foot to residents that remove their lawn, and replace it with 80 percent drought tolerant plant cover. Currently in its fourth year, the program boasts over 112,958 square feet of converted lawns.

This spring, in partnership with the Bay Area Water Supply and Conservation Agency, Menlo Park is offering six free landscape education workshops to further increase water conservation efforts. Thanks to all of the participating residents and businesses, the City of Menlo Park continues to be a successful model for water conservation strategies that produce measurable results.