Water Conservation Landscape Ordinance

About the Program

Category: Planning (Best in Category)

Year: 2011

Facing the realities of its water-supply crisis, the State of California passed a law that required all local governments to adopt new landscape conservation ordinances that were at least as effective as the state’s by January 1st, 2010. The Board of Supervisors of San Diego County saw this as an opportunity to go beyond mere compliance, and directed county staff to look for effective and innovative ways to increase water conservation through the County’s ordinance. The result was not only a comprehensive rewrite of the County’s landscape ordinance, but the creation of a Landscape Design Manual. The new County Water Conservation Landscapes Ordinance doesn’t just encourage water conservation, it requires new developments to create and follow “water budgets,” to use recycled water when possible, and gives the County greater oversight when builders prepare landscape plans and water budgets. Meanwhile, the Water Efficient landscape Design Manual - complete with checklists, worksheets, plant lists, illustrations, and photos – actually explains how people can comply with the new ordinance and create beautiful landscapes using plants that both draw on little water and resist fire. The County’s Ordinance has served as the template when local agencies opted to create a regional model and their own ordinances. Further, the County projects a water savings of approximately 12.5 percent annually, equating to as much as 16,706,250 gallons of water conserved.