No Sonoma County-specific ordinance restricts residential rainwater harvesting in unincorporated areas; under California's Rainwater Capture Act of 2012, rooftop rainwater may be collected and used without a water right permit.
California's Rainwater Capture Act of 2012 (Water Code Secs. 10570-10574, enacted by AB 1750) authorizes residential, commercial, and governmental landowners to install, maintain, and operate rainwater capture systems. Water Code Sec. 10574 expressly provides that use of rainwater collected from rooftops does not require a water right permit under Water Code Sec. 1201. In unincorporated Sonoma County, rain barrels and cisterns used for outdoor landscape irrigation are therefore permitted by state law; larger systems plumbed into a building may still require county plumbing permits under the California Plumbing Code. No county ordinance prohibits or caps residential rainwater collection.
Rooftop rainwater capture itself carries no penalty; however, connecting a harvesting system to building plumbing without required Permit Sonoma plumbing permits can result in code enforcement and permit fees.
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See how Sonoma County's rainwater harvesting rules stack up against other locations.
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