St. Johns County, FL Water Use Rules: Recycled Water Rules (2026)
Key Facts
- Trigger
- Subdivision contains a golf course
- Requirement
- Install reclaimed water lines for course irrigation
- If service unavailable
- Install as capped dry lines for future connection
- Governing standard
- Part 6.04.00 Roadway, Drainage & Utilities Standards
- Reviewing authority
- County Administrator, Growth Management Development Review
- Applies to
- Unincorporated St. Johns County subdivisions only
Summary
St. Johns County's Land Development Code requires any new subdivision built around a golf course to install reclaimed water lines so the course can be irrigated with recycled water instead of potable supply. If a reclaimed water utility is not yet available nearby, the developer must still install the lines as capped dry lines, sized and ready for connection once service reaches the site.
C. Subdivisions containing golf courses shall be required to install lines for reclaimed water for use as irrigation for the golf course. Where service with a central Utility Provider for reclaimed water is not immediately available, these lines shall be installed as dry lines in accordance with standards contained in Part 6.04.00 of this Code.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: the cited page had not changed since it was quoted.
Full Breakdown
10 of the St. Johns County Land Development Code, titled Water, Wastewater, Reclaimed Water Utilities, sits in the subdivision design article (Article VI) and applies countywide to unincorporated St. Johns County, not to the City of St. Augustine or St. Augustine Beach. Subsection B sets the baseline: new subdivisions must install water lines, wastewater lines, and a lift station wetwell site, with two carve-outs, subdivisions of fewer than twenty lots and subdivisions where every lot is one acre or larger. Subsection C layers a separate, narrower mandate on top of that baseline: any subdivision containing a golf course must install reclaimed water lines specifically to irrigate the course.
00 of the code (Roadway, Drainage & Utilities Standards) that govern potable water and wastewater dry lines, so they can be connected the moment a reclaimed water provider extends service to the area. 00, and the County Administrator signs off on construction plans before infrastructure is accepted. Because the mandate is triggered specifically by the presence of a golf course, ordinary residential subdivisions without a course fall outside subsection C and only need the general water and wastewater lines required by subsection B, subject to its lot-count and lot-size exceptions.
Violations & Fines
There is no fine schedule attached to Section 6.02.10 because it is a subdivision design standard, not a code-enforcement offense. Instead, the County Administrator withholds approval: construction plans that omit the required reclaimed water lines, or install them below Part 6.04.00 standards, do not get signed off, and the subdivision cannot proceed to final plat, infrastructure acceptance, or lot sales until the golf course irrigation lines, or approved dry lines, are shown on the approved plans and verified in the field.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does every new subdivision in St. Johns County need reclaimed water lines?
What if reclaimed water isn't available yet when the golf course subdivision is built?
Who reviews compliance with the reclaimed water requirement?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in St. Johns County
Florida rules heatmap·Compare St. Johns County to another location·View the Florida water use rules overview
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