Baldwin Park, CA Landscaping Rules: Native Plants (2026)

Baldwin Park actively promotes native and low-water plants through Subchapter 153.160 (Water-Efficient Landscaping Standards), which implements California's Water Conservation in Landscaping Act (Government Code 65591 et seq.) and the state Model Water Efficient Landscape Ordinance (MWELO). Section 153.160.030.F directs that landscape planting emphasize drought-tolerant and native species suited to local soil and climate, and requires low-water-use plants in at least 50 percent of the total planted area, with plants grouped by similar watering needs. New development with 500+ square feet of landscape and rehabilitated projects of 2,500+ square feet must meet a water budget: the project's Estimated Total Water Use cannot exceed the Maximum Applied Water Allowance, based on an evapotranspiration adjustment factor (ETAF) of 0.55 for residential and 0.45 for non-residential areas (Section 153.160.110). Plant factors come from the WUCOLS list (0-0.1 low, 0.4-0.6 moderate, 0.7-1.0 high water use). Smaller projects may instead use the prescriptive path in Section 153.160.225, which requires climate-adapted plants needing little or no summer water (average WUCOLS factor 0.3) on 75% of the plant area in residential projects (100% non-residential), plus a 3-inch mulch layer. The code does not mandate any specific native species list but strongly steers toward natives and water-wise plantings.