County Considering Mandatory Water-Efficient Landscaping

The San Joaquin County Planning Commission is considering tougher new landscaping standards aimed at reducing water waste in northern California. Under the new rules, those projects would have to submit a soil management report, a landscape design plan, an irrigation design plan, a grading design plan, and a water-efficient landscape worksheet covering a hydro zone information table and water budget calculations.

New irrigation rules range from requiring moisture sensors and separate water meters to monitoring consumption, as well as submitting parameters for how much water landscaping will use to develop an ongoing maintenance schedule for approval.

The new standards would apply to new construction and rehabilitated landscaping area equal to or greater than 2,500 sq. ft. that require a building or landscape permit, plan check, or design review. It also pertains to new construction projects involving single or multi-family residential projects that have a landscaping area larger than 5,000 sq. ft.

The requirements are an outgrowth of a state mandate administered by the Department of Water Resources to encourage more efficient landscaping as a means of addressing California’s continuing water shortage.