Palmdale, CA Landscaping Rules: Rainwater Harvesting (2026)
Key Facts
- Status
- rainwater capture encouraged, not mandatory citywide
- Design storm
- 1-inch or 85th percentile 24-hour rain event
- Mandatory disclosure
- PMC Sec. 14.05.090(B)(12)-(13) design plan mapping
- Soil rule
- friable soil required in all planted areas
- Small-lot exception
- under 2,500 sq ft met entirely by rainwater/graywater
Summary
Palmdale's water efficient landscape ordinance encourages every covered landscape design to capture and infiltrate stormwater on site rather than let it run off, and requires the landscape plan itself to map any rain harvesting or catchment system and its 24-hour retention capacity before the City will approve it.
(A) Stormwater management practices minimize runoff and increase infiltration which recharges groundwater and improves water quality. Implementing stormwater best management practices into the landscape and grading design plans to minimize runoff and to increase on-site rainwater retention and infiltration are encouraged. ... (D) It is strongly recommended that landscape areas be designed for capture and infiltration capacity that is sufficient to prevent runoff from impervious surfaces (i.e., roof and paved areas) from either: the one-inch, 24-hour rain event or (2) the eighty-fifth percentile, 24-hour rain event, and/or additional capacity as required by any applicable local, regional, State or Federal regulation. (E) It is recommended that stormwater projects incorporate any of the following elements ... (5) Incorporate rain gardens, cisterns, and other rain harvesting or catchment systems.
Full Breakdown
200(A) states that implementing stormwater best management practices into the landscape and grading design plans to minimize runoff and increase on-site rainwater retention and infiltration are encouraged, and directs applicants to the City or the Regional Water Quality Control Board for any applicable stormwater ordinances. Subsection (D) recommends sizing capture and infiltration capacity to prevent runoff from impervious roof and paved areas during either a one-inch, 24-hour rain event or the eighty-fifth percentile 24-hour rain event. Subsection (E) lists specific techniques the City wants to see, including grading impervious driveways to drain toward vegetated areas, minimizing paved surfaces, using pervious or porous materials such as gravel or permeable pavers, directing roof and paved runoff into planting beds, and incorporating rain gardens, cisterns and other rain harvesting or catchment systems, infiltration beds, swales, basins and drywells.
200 along with their 24-hour retention or infiltration capacity. 090(A)(3). 190, are likewise encouraged for on-site irrigation and must conform to the California Plumbing Code Title 24, Part 5, Chapter 16.
Violations & Fines
Because Section 14.05.200's capture techniques are framed as encouraged or recommended rather than required, a project cannot be cited for skipping rain gardens or cisterns outright. What is enforceable is the disclosure duty in Section 14.05.090(B): a landscape documentation package that omits the required mapping of any stormwater or rain harvesting feature and its 24-hour retention capacity is incomplete, and Section 14.05.040 bars the City from approving an incomplete package or issuing the underlying permit, plan check, or design review until it is corrected.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is rainwater harvesting mandatory for new landscaping in Palmdale?
What rain event does Palmdale recommend landscapes be designed to capture?
Does using rainwater or graywater reduce my Palmdale landscape permit requirements?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Palmdale
California rules heatmap·Compare Palmdale to another location·View the California landscaping rules overview
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