To the thousands of Californian’s who tried doing their part during the drought, by ripping out their lawns, a new audit by the Los Angeles City Controller’s office found that the turf rebate programs largely a “gimmick.” These programs yielded the lowest return on water conservation – it was a failure.

In an audit released Friday by L.A. City Controller Ron Galperin’s office found DWP’s program is “largely a gimmick” that, while perhaps successful as an advertising campaign, fell short in terms of fairness and cost effectiveness.

“If money is no object, turf replacement rebates are a relatively expedient way to way to save water. But, of course, money is an object,” Galperin said in a prepared statement.

The program helped save about 1/2 gallon a day.