La Mesa, CA Landscaping Rules: Water Restrictions (2026)

Chapter 14.29, the Water Efficient Landscape Regulations, implements the state's 2006 Water Conservation in Landscaping Act at the local level and is administered by the community development director under section 14.29.040. It reaches industrial, commercial, institutional and multi-family projects with 2,500 square feet or more of landscaped area, developer-installed residential and common-area landscapes of the same size, new single-family homes with 5,000 or more square feet of homeowner-provided landscaping, and rehabilitated landscapes of 2,500 square feet or more undergoing a permit. Covered projects must submit a landscape documentation package with a soil report, planting and irrigation plans, a water-use worksheet calculating the maximum applied water allowance and estimated total water use, and a grading plan before a building or discretionary permit issues; installers must later certify under penalty of perjury that the system was built and programmed as approved.

The operative restriction, section 14.29.200, bars two things once a landscape is installed: letting irrigation water escape the target area through runoff, low head drainage or overspray onto adjacent property, unirrigated ground, structures, walkways, roadways or other paved surfaces, and applying more water to the landscape than its calculated maximum applied water allowance permits. The rule applies to any landscape that received a landscape approval under the chapter, not just the day it is inspected, so ongoing overwatering or a leaking irrigation head can trigger a violation years after installation.