Santa Barbara County, CA Landscaping Rules: Water Restrictions (2026)

Santa Barbara County's drought-and-conservation framework operates at three levels. (1) STATE PERMANENT PROHIBITIONS. The State Water Resources Control Board's permanent regulations at California Code of Regulations Title 23, Sections 996 and 997 (and parallel Water Code Section 365 et seq.) prohibit, at all times statewide: (a) hosing off sidewalks, driveways, and other hardscapes; (b) watering of outdoor landscapes in a manner that causes runoff onto adjacent property, non-irrigated areas, sidewalks, roadways, parking lots, or structures; (c) using a hose without a shut-off nozzle to wash a motor vehicle; (d) using potable water in a decorative fountain or water feature unless the water is recirculated; (e) irrigating ornamental turf on public street medians; and (f) irrigating outdoor landscapes during and within 48 hours after measurable rainfall. (2) RETAIL WATER PURVEYORS. Santa Barbara County is served by multiple retail water districts and city utilities, each of which adopts its own drought ordinance with Stage 1, 2, 3, or 4 actions: the City of Santa Barbara Public Works Water Resources Division, Goleta Water District, Montecito Water District, Carpinteria Valley Water District, La Cumbre Mutual Water Company, City of Santa Maria, Golden State Water Company (Orcutt), and many small mutuals. Typical stage-specific restrictions include 2- or 3-day-per-week assigned outdoor irrigation, restricted irrigation hours (before 9 a.m. or after 6 p.m.), prohibition on irrigation during high wind, and customer-specific allocations with surcharges or penalties for over-use. Suppliers also adopt time-of-day rules (typically requiring all leaks to be repaired within 72 hours after notice). (3) STATE EMERGENCY ACTIONS. When the Governor declares a statewide or regional drought emergency, the State Water Resources Control Board may impose additional emergency conservation regulations (most recently the 2022-2023 statewide regulations) that override local rules to the extent stricter. (4) SUPPLY SOURCES. The south-coast Santa Barbara County urban area is supplied by Lake Cachuma (Cachuma Project, U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, allocated through the Cachuma Operation and Maintenance Board to the City of Santa Barbara, Goleta, Montecito, Carpinteria, and Carpinteria Valley districts), augmented by the State Water Project East Branch Extension delivered through Lake Cachuma's distribution, the City of Santa Barbara desalination plant (Charles E. Meyer Desalination Plant, restarted in 2017 post-Thomas Fire / drought), local groundwater, and recycled water. Cuyama Valley operates under a Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) Critical Overdraft Basin designation. The Department of Water Resources annually announces the State Water Project allocation, which directly affects Santa Barbara County's south-coast supplies. (5) LANDSCAPE STANDARDS. New construction and substantial renovation in the County's MS4 area must comply with the State Model Water Efficient Landscape Ordinance (MWELO) under California Code of Regulations Title 23, Sections 490-495, which sets a Maximum Applied Water Allowance (MAWA), restricts turf area, and requires high-efficiency irrigation.