Apple Valley, CA Landscaping Rules: Rainwater Harvesting (2026)

There is no Apple Valley ordinance banning the collection of rainwater, and the practice fits the town's desert water-conservation goals. Under California's Rainwater Capture Act of 2012, residential property owners may install and use rain barrels and rooftop rainwater-capture systems for landscape irrigation without a permit from the State Water Resources Control Board (a water-rights permit is not required for rooftop capture). California's Model Water Efficient Landscape Ordinance (MWELO), which Apple Valley implements through Development Code Chapter 9.75 (Water Conservation/Landscaping Regulations), expressly encourages onsite stormwater capture and graywater as efficiency measures, signaling that the Town treats rainwater harvesting as beneficial rather than a nuisance. Practical limits are generic, not rainwater-specific: a large cistern or above-ground tank may be treated as an accessory structure subject to the Development Code's setback and building-permit thresholds, and any plumbed connection to the home's potable system must meet California Plumbing Code backflow rules. For typical rain barrels feeding a drip or hand-watering system, no special Town approval is needed. Note that in the High Desert, rainfall is low, so harvesting supplements rather than replaces utility water.