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

Tulare County regulates landscape water use through Part VII, Chapter 31 (Water Efficient Landscaping), a locally adopted ordinance the County uses in lieu of the State Model Water Efficient Landscape Ordinance because Tulare County water demand exceeds long-term sustainable supplies and groundwater overdraft is documented. A landscape documentation package conforming to Chapter 31 must be submitted with a building-permit application, and no permit issues until the County Director of Planning and Development approves it. Chapter 31 requires sprinkler distribution uniformity to exceed 60 percent, applies xeriscape and water-efficiency concepts, and (per the County's landscape standards) schedules irrigation between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. whenever possible and requires a minimum mulch layer on non-turf planting areas. Separately, customers of County-operated potable water systems - County Service Area No. 1 (Part VIII, Chapter 9) and CSA No. 2 / Wells Tract (Part VIII, Chapter 7) - are subject to a Staged Water Conservation Program adopted in 2016 that imposes tiered, mandatory outdoor-watering limits when a stage is declared. On top of all of this, statewide rules from the State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) - including emergency drought regulations and the statewide prohibition on certain wasteful uses - apply countywide regardless of who supplies your water. Private-well and other-purveyor customers follow their own supplier's rules plus any active SWRCB regulation.