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​​​​​WATER-04

Reduce Potable Water Use in Outdoor Landscaping

Measure Summary

The County seeks to reduce the amount of potable water used for landscaping. Actions under this measure focus on revising the County’s landscaping standards, improving rebates to residential water users to incorporate drought-tolerant landscaping, and increasing the size of the recycled water system (see also Measure WATER-02: Increase Onsite Greywater and Rainwater Reuse, Stormwater Reuse, and Recycled Water Systems). Water savings could be allocated to other more vital purposes (e.g., agriculture, potable water). These actions will also reduce the energy use and GHG emissions associated with water conveyance and treatment. 

A​​ctions

Action WATER-04-a: Amend the Sacramento County Water Efficient Landscaping Ordinance to require that 80 percent of landscaping area be dedicated to low-water, drought-tolerant species for new residential and nonresidential buildings.  Status: Ongoing.


Action WATER-04-b: Partner with Regional Water Authority and other water districts in the county to improve existing rebate programs (e.g., Sacramento County Water Agency’s Cash for Grass Program) to incentivize the incorporation of low-water, drought-tolerant species in lieu of water-intensive lawns and high-water vegetation in existing residential areas.  Status: Not Started. 


Action WATER-04-c: Partner with the Sacramento Area Sewer District to expand the existing recycled water system service areas. Status: Not Started. 


Action WATER-04-d: Conduct a feasibility study to evaluate establishing requirements for dual-plumbing to support on-site greywater use in new residential single-family, residential multifamily, and commercial buildings. Status: Not Started. ​

​​Status of Im​​​ple​​me​​ntation

Sacramento County is required to support the State Model Water Efficiency Landscape Ordinance (MWELO) which supersedes the County’s Ordinance. Under the MWELO, although not specifically required, most projects will achieve the 80 percent drought tolerance goal.  

The State of California has instituted water conservation rules as described in the following Sacramento Bee article from July 11, 2024: How state water conservation rules affect Sacramento area | Sacramento Bee. SCWA is working with the Regional Water Authority (RWA) and with consultants to determine the reduction required to meet the new conservation regulations. Demand management, including lower outdoor water use, is a key negotiation point in the update of the Water Forum Agreement. More information on the Water Forum Agreement, and the Water Forum in general, can be found here: Sacramento Water Forum – Protecting our River and Water Supply. An updated Water Forum Agreement is anticipated in the first quarter of 2026 and the Demand Management section will likely describe how water purveyors in the region plan on meeting the conservation regulations. 

The Sacramento County Water Agency (SCWA) is one of over 20 water purveyors within Sacramento County and is the only purveyor lead by the Director of the Sacramento County Department of Water Resources who acts as the Agency Engineer. SCWA, with water supply jurisdiction in its service area only, maintains a water efficiency webpage which can be found here: Sacramento County Water Agency - Water Efficiency (saccounty.gov). In addition, SCWA has a Water Shortage Contingency Plan which limits the use of potable water for outdoor irrigation depending upon water supply availability. Other water purveyors within the County post their water shortage contingency plans on their individual websites. 

SCWA currently serves tertiary treated recycled water to customers in the Phase 1 area. SCWA is working with SacSewer to use the Harvest Water pipeline as a transmission main to deliver tertiary treated water to the Phase 2 system. Most of the distribution infrastructure in the Phase 2 system is in progress but transmission and treatment is still needed. In 2017 the SCWA Board approved the Recycled Water Feasibility Study directing staff moving forward with expansion of recycled water use.   

 Updated 4/3/25.


​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Started​

The efforts for this measure have ​started. 
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