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

Outdoor watering schedules in unincorporated Siskiyou County are generally set by individual water districts and by statewide State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) drought regulations rather than by a single county lawn-watering ordinance. What the County Code does regulate strongly is groundwater, which matters in the Scott Valley and Shasta Valley basins. Two county chapters apply. First, the Standards for Wells (County Code Title 5, Chapter 8) make it unlawful to dig, bore, drill, deepen, modify, repair, or destroy a water well without first obtaining a permit from the county enforcement agency (Section 5-8.03); working without a permit costs double the standard fee (Section 5-8.04), and well work must be done by a licensed C-57 contractor (Section 5-8.10). Second, the Groundwater Management chapter (County Code Title 3, Chapter 13) makes it unlawful to extract groundwater from any basin underlying the county for use outside that basin without a county permit (Section 3-13.301); such permits run through Planning Commission and Board of Supervisors review, are limited to demonstrated historical use, and last no more than three water years (Sections 3-13.305, 3-13.308). The county also prohibits wasting or unreasonably using groundwater - specifically extracting and discharging groundwater for unlawful cannabis cultivation, declared a public nuisance (Sections 3-13.701 to 3-13.703). The Scott and Shasta basins are also covered by the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA), with the county Flood Control and Water Conservation District acting as the Groundwater Sustainability Agency.