Frederick County, VA Landscaping Rules: Rainwater Harvesting (2026)

The county's Drought Response and Contingency Plan, Chapter 75 of the Frederick County Code, does not set standards for rain barrel construction, size or placement, and there is no permit fee or inspection tied to installing one. Instead, rain barrels appear as one of six voluntary measures the County Administrator asks residents to take once a drought watch is declared, alongside reducing outdoor watering, running washing machines and dishwashers only with full loads, and checking faucets and toilets for leaks. Frederick Water, formerly the Frederick County Sanitation Authority, and the County Administrator jointly evaluate rainfall and demand data to decide when to declare a drought watch, warning, or emergency under § 75-4.

During a watch, the target is a voluntary 10% cut in residential water use, achieved through measures like rain barrel installation for watering plants, washing vehicles and general cleanup rather than through mandatory rules. Because rain barrels are never mentioned again in the warning or emergency stages of § 75-4, the county's only formal reference to them is this drought-watch encouragement; using a rain barrel is not restricted even when mandatory outdoor watering bans take effect in a drought emergency, since collected rainwater is not drawn from the public system Chapter 75 regulates.