Amador County, CA Landscaping Rules: Water Restrictions (2026)

Amador County government has not adopted a county-specific outdoor watering schedule for the unincorporated area; water restrictions there come primarily from state law and from the local retail water purveyor. The California State Water Resources Control Board adopted permanent water-waste prohibitions (final regulation July 3, 2024, effective January 1, 2025) that apply statewide regardless of drought: no hosing down sidewalks and driveways, no irrigation runoff onto pavement or into gutters and storm drains, no irrigating ornamental turf during or within 48 hours after at least a quarter inch of measurable rain, washing vehicles only with a shut-off nozzle, and recirculating systems required for decorative fountains. Day-of-week and drought-stage schedules, if any, are set by the water supplier serving the property (for much of the unincorporated county this is the Amador Water Agency). For new construction, California's Model Water Efficient Landscape Ordinance (MWELO), implemented through CalGreen (Title 24, Part 11) and adopted by the state for agencies that have not enacted a stricter local ordinance, applies to landscape projects of 500 square feet or more that require a permit, capping turf and requiring efficient irrigation and a landscape documentation package.