Tehama County, CA Landscaping Rules: Artificial Turf (2026)

Unincorporated Tehama County does not have an ordinance that prohibits, mandates or sets design standards specifically for residential artificial (synthetic) turf, and there is no county requirement that front yards be live grass. Homeowners are generally free to install artificial turf on their own property. A few general rules can still apply. Projects large enough to fall under the County's Water Efficient Landscape Ordinance (Tehama County Code Chapter 17.85, implementing the state Model Water Efficient Landscape Ordinance) must address the landscape and irrigation design for the qualifying landscape area, and artificial turf is one way applicants reduce water demand within that framework. Because turf changes how a site sheds water, the County's General Plan runoff-control and best-management-practice policies (for example, requiring development to incorporate runoff control into site design) and Public Works drainage standards can apply to larger installations. State conservation policy also generally favors reducing potable water used on ornamental landscapes, which makes synthetic turf and drought-tolerant alternatives acceptable choices. For a typical homeowner installing turf in a yard, no special county turf permit is required, though standard grading or drainage review could apply to extensive work.