CAs AB 1881 Is Now In Force

If you (or your office) produce planting and or irrigation plans, AB 1881 has specific details and provisions as to applicability and content of those plans.

California Assembly Bill 1881 is the Model Water Efficient Landscape Ordinance (MWELO) that went into effect Jan. 1, 2010. Some of the provisions are:

Design to minimize irrigation over spray and runoff
Inclusion of landscape water budgets
Design with the appropriate use and groupings of plants
Design in the use of ET controllers and creation of base schedules
Provide soil assessment and soil management plans
Provide landscape maintenance plans
Provide landscape maintenance practices
Encourage the capture and retention of storm water onsite
Encourage the use of recycled water
Encourage use of economic incentives
Educate water users

This applies to new construction and rehabilitated landscapes which are developer-installed, homeowner-provided and/or homeowner-hired landscaping in single-family and multi-family residential projects with a landscape area equal to and greater than 2,500 square feet requiring a permit, plan check or design review.

The Penalties Are:

Some Elements of the Landscape Documentation Package.

The Maximum Applied Water Allowance will set the (maximum) amount of water you will be allowed to use on the landscape. We now have to use an ET Adjustment factor of .7 ! Example: If your annual ET is 45, its adjusted down to 31.5...but..if you have a Special Landscape Area (SLA), you can use your established ET factor . (The terminology for this is: "ETAF for Special Landscape Areas shall not exceed 1.0. (An SLA is an area of the landscape dedicated solely to edible plants, areas irrigated with recycled water, water features using recycled water and areas dedicated to active play such as parks, sports fields, golf course, and where turf provides a playing surface.)

For the purpose of determining the Maximum Applied Water Allowance (MAWA), irrigation efficiency is assumed to be 0.71. Irrigation systems shall be designed, maintained and managed to meet or exceed 0.71 efficiency. (many spray nozzles are considered to have an irrigation efficiency less than 71 percent...which means they cannot be used!)

Narrow or irregularly shaped areas less than eight (8) feet in width in any direction shall be irrigated with sub-surface or low volume irrigation technology and Overhead Irrigation shall not be permitted within 24 inches of any non-permeable surface. Allowable irrigation within the setback from non-permeable surfaces may include drip, drip line or other low flow non-spray technology. The setback area may be planted or unplanted. The surfacing of the setback may be mulch, gravel, or other porous material. (but there are exceptions...) ... Exception: the landscape area is adjacent to permeable surfacing and no overspray or runoff occurs; or Exception: the adjacent non-permeable surfaces are designed and constructed to drain entirely to landscaping, or the irrigation designer specifies an alternative design or technology as part of the Landscape Doc Package and clearly demonstrates strict adherence to irrigation system design criteria in Section 492.7. That's pretty clear, isn't it?