Orange County, CA Landscaping Rules: Rainwater Harvesting (2026)
Key Facts
- Governing section
- Sec. 7-9-68.2(a)(4), Landscape Irrigation Code
- Exemption threshold
- under 2,500 sq ft landscape area
- Benefit
- Appendix A prescriptive compliance only
- Scope
- unincorporated Orange County only
- Adopted
- Ord. No. 20-006, effective July 28, 2020
Summary
Unincorporated Orange County exempts landscape projects that meet their entire water demand with on-site rainwater capture or graywater from the standard water-budget calculation, letting them follow simplified prescriptive Appendix A rules instead.
(4)New or rehabilitated projects using treated or untreated graywater or rainwater capture on site, any lot or parcels within the project that has less than two thousand five hundred (2,500) square feet of landscape area and meets the lot or parcel's landscape water requirement (Estimated Total Water Use) entirely with the treated or untreated graywater or though stored rainwater capture on site is subject only to Appendix A of the Guidelines.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: Code of Ordinances: Supplement 157).
Full Breakdown
Orange County's Landscape Irrigation Code (Sec. 7-9-68.2) requires new landscape projects of 500+ square feet, and rehabilitated projects of 2,500+ square feet, to submit a landscape documentation package proving water use stays under the county's Maximum Applied Water Allowance. A lot or parcel with less than 2,500 square feet of landscape area that meets its entire water requirement with treated or untreated graywater or stored on-site rainwater capture is exempt from that water-budget worksheet and subject only to the prescriptive measures in Appendix A of the Guidelines. This applies only in unincorporated Orange County, not the county's 34 incorporated cities.
Violations & Fines
Landscape projects that don't qualify for this exemption must submit a full landscape documentation package and water-budget worksheet before the County issues a building, grading, or landscape permit; incomplete submittals get rejected in plan check.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Orange County require rain barrels in unincorporated areas?
Do I need a permit just to install a rain barrel?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Orange County
California rules heatmap·Compare Orange County to another location·View the California landscaping rules overview
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