Water Efficient Landscape Ordinances: Are You Keeping Up?

The State’s updated Model Water Efficient Landscape Ordinance was adopted back in July 2015. Local and regional ordinances are a different matter. Cities and counties had until Dec. 1, 2015 to adopt their own ordinance (at least as efficient as the state’s ordinance) and regional ordinances had until Feb. 1, 2016.

As a rater, be sure to check that you are up to speed on any new local ordinances going into effect in your area (for example, Marin Municipal Water District, Del Mar, Solana Beach, etc.). And, remember, compliance with these ordinances will not only meet local/state requirements, but can also earn points in GreenPoint Rated (see measures C11).

Build It Green has assembled resources to refresh your knowledge on major changes in the new Model Ordinance, and on best practices for water budgeting calculations:

• Fact Sheet: Model Water Efficient Landscape Ordinance 2015 Revisions (Department of Water Resources)
• How-To: WaterSense Water Budget Approach (EPA WaterSense)
• Water Budget Workbook for Compliance with MWELO and CALGreen (.xls) (Department of Water Resources)