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

Glenn County is a rural agricultural county and does not operate its own urban water-conservation ordinance or seasonal day-of-week irrigation schedule for the unincorporated area. Its only landscape-watering provision is in the property-maintenance nuisance code: Section 1.15.022 lists as a nuisance the 'failure to install or to maintain landscaping required by this code,' and states that required maintenance includes 'providing adequate watering to maintain and prevent fire hazards such as dead and dying lawns or other landscaping plantings in all residential districts when any residential lawn or landscaping planting has been installed and is visible from the public right-of-way, except in the event that water rationing measures have been imposed.' In other words, residents must keep visible installed landscaping from becoming a dry fire hazard, but that duty is suspended if rationing is in effect. Where the county is silent, California state law controls. The State Water Resources Control Board's permanent statewide prohibitions on wasteful water use (made permanent by Executive Order B-37-16 and codified in Title 23 of the California Code of Regulations) ban watering that causes runoff onto pavement, hosing down sidewalks and driveways, washing a vehicle with a hose lacking a shut-off nozzle, running non-recirculating ornamental fountains, and irrigating turf within 48 hours after measurable rainfall. Local water suppliers may impose stricter drought restrictions.