Bernalillo County, NM Water Use Rules: Recycled Water Rules (2026)

Bernalillo County Code § 30-249(2)(b) governs water-conservation building permits for new commercial, large multifamily, and institutional development in the unincorporated county. Any project on more than one acre must submit construction plans documenting four of seven listed water conservation measures, and one of the four chosen measures must be option (i), (ii), or (iii). Option (iii) is the recycled and nonpotable water path: "One hundred percent of the irrigation water supply shall be from a nonpotable municipal, private or well source," with the nonpotable supply "officially documented and confirmed" before county water conservation review staff will approve the plans.

The other two core choices are heavy use of precipitation-supported plants across at least 45 percent of the landscape area, option (i), or passive water harvesting across at least 45 percent of the landscape area, option (ii). Commercial developments smaller than one acre may instead follow the same guidelines, install a county-approved smart irrigation controller for the whole landscape, or use only low- and medium-water-use plants with no spray irrigation, under § 30-249(2)c. Every project is subject to inspection and approval by county water conservation staff before a certificate of occupancy issues, under § 30-249(1)c.

A developer who cannot meet a listed measure may instead request an alternate-compliance exemption from the county manager under § 30-250(h), showing that standard compliance is an unreasonable burden and proposing an equivalent-or-greater water-saving alternative. Denied exemption decisions may be appealed to the natural resource services section manager within 15 days under § 30-251(a), with a hearing held within 15 business days. This article implements the Bernalillo County Water Conservation Plan and applies only within unincorporated Bernalillo County; ABCWUA customers are not double-enforced for the same violation under § 30-244(b).