ITEM:		PUBLIC HEARING
12.	CONSIDER FIRST READING OF ORDINANCE NO. 199 – AMENDING RULE 142.1, WATER EFFICIENT LANDSCAPE ORDINANCE
Meeting Date:			October 20, 2025	Budgeted:	N/A
From:			David Stoldt	Program/		N/A
			General Manager	Line Item No.:
Prepared By:			Stephanie Locke	Cost Estimate:	N/A
General Counsel Review: In progress
Committee Recommendation: The Water Demand Committee considered this item on October 2, 2025, and recommended approval.
CEQA Compliance: This ordinance is exempt from review under the California Environmental Quality Act ("CEQA") (California Public Resources Code Section 21000 et seq.).

SUMMARY: Rule 142.1 Water Efficient Landscape Requirements was added to the Rules and Regulations in 2016 (Ordinance No. 172) to comply with state law and to provide landscape standards that minimize water use, eliminate Water Waste, and reduce stormwater runoff by requiring low water landscape plantings, design, and irrigation methods. The District’s rule is more effective than the State’s Model Water Efficient Landscape Ordinance, and the District regionally administers and enforces these requirements to ensure that landscapes are water efficient.

The requirements apply to:

1. New construction (including demolition projects) with a new or rehabilitated landscape area equal to or greater than 500 square feet requiring a building or landscape permit, plan check, or design review;

2. Rehabilitated landscape projects with a landscape area equal to or greater than 2,500 square feet requiring a building or landscape permit, plan check, or design review;

3. Landscape projects with a new or rehabilitated landscape area equal to or greater than 500 square feet undertaken within one (1) year of completion of projects requiring a grading permit, building permit, or design review;

4. Landscape projects with a new or rehabilitated landscape area equal to or greater than 500 square feet undertaken to repair unintended damage from a project requiring a grading permit, building permit, or design review;

5. Existing non-rehabilitated landscapes limited to Rule 142.1-D.

Over the past several years, the Department of Water Resources has worked with local agencies, water suppliers, landscape industry groups, and public interested parties to prepare the current updated MWELO. Water Demand Manager Stephanie Locke participates in the Landscape Statewide Advisory Group (LSAG). The proposed amendments are updates to the ordinance that simplify and clarify the requirements of the ordinance to facilitate local implementation and improve compliance. The new MWELO is significantly improved as far as readability and clarity.

Staff has chosen to recommend an updated Rule 142.1 that is much easier to understand. The District is the regional landscape entity and regularly issues and enforces Landscape Water Permits for the Jurisdictions. MPWMD also is responsible for the annual reporting requirement. Proposed Ordinance No. 199 deletes the existing Rule 142.1 and replaces it with most of the text from the revised MWELO. The ordinance maintains the District’s irrigation requirements and provides sample forms for compliance, along with updated evapotranspiration data. Representatives of the District’s Technical Advisory Committee were provided with the draft ordinance and staff report in early October, and no comments were received prior to this report.

Ordinance No. 199 includes added requirements for landscape projects undertaken within one (1) year of completion of projects requiring a grading permit, building permit, or design review and projects that are undertaken to repair unintended damage during construction. These requirements are needed due to the number of landscaping projects that are not completed during or immediately after construction that should meet the WELO efficiency requirements and projects that are not planned at the time the construction project is undertaken (i.e. to repair damage). These additions were discussed and supported by the Water Demand Committee in 2023 and again in October 2025.

The Landscape Water Permit process is part of the permitting for new construction and remodels/additions. The landscape plans are usually prepared by a landscape architect or designer who is familiar with MWELO and the District’s requirements. The District reviews the project plans and documentation package(s) and conducts a final inspection after the landscape has been installed. Annually, the District as the regional agency, submits a comprehensive report to the Department of Water Resources about permits issued the previous year.

RECOMMENDATION: The Board should conduct a public hearing on the first reading of Ordinance No. 199 and move the ordinance to second reading and adoption at the next regular meeting.

EXHIBIT

12-A Draft Ordinance No. 199

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