WATER Measure 04

Dept Content Top
WATER-04

Reduce Potable Water Use in Outdoor Landscaping

Implementation

Amend the Sacramento County Water Efficient Landscaping Ordinance to require that 80 percent of landscaping area is dedicated to low-water, drought-tolerant species for new residential and nonresidential buildings.
Partner with RWA and other water districts in the County to expand existing rebate programs (e.g., Cash for Grass Program or River Friendly Landscape Programs) to create incentives to incorporate low-water, drought-tolerant species in lieu of water-intensive lawns and high-water vegetation in existing residential areas.
Partner with the Sacramento Regional County Sanitation District and local water providers to expand the existing recycled water system service areas where feasible.

Benefits: Revising the County’s landscaping standards as defined by the Sacramento County Water Efficient Landscaping Ordinance and County Zoning Code, improving rebates to residential water users to incorporate drought-tolerant landscaping, and increasing the size of the recycled water system would reduce the amount of water used for landscaping. These savings could be allocated to other, more vital purposes (e.g., agriculture, potable water). These actions would also result in reductions in pumping energy and associated GHG emissions reductions.

Timeframe: Near term

Started

The efforts for this measure have started.

Status of Implementation

The Sacramento County Water Agency (SCWA) 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.

SCWA currently serves tertiary treated recycled water to customers in the Phase 1 area. SCWA is working with Regional San 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 to move forward with expansion of recycled water use.

Sacramento County has allowed the State Model Water Efficiency Landscape Ordinance (MWELO) to supersede the County's Ordinance. Under the MWELO, although not specifically required, most projects will achieve the 80 percent drought tolerance goal. Additionally, the reader is advised that there is a significant update to the State Ordinance coming.

Recently the State of California has instituted new 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 (sacbee.com). SCWA is working with the Regional Water Authority (RWA) and with consultants to determine the reduction required to meet the new conservation regulations.

Updated on 9/17/2024.

Green Sacramento County

Dept Content Top​​​WATER-04

Implementation

​

Dept Content Top
WATER-04