Chula Vista, CA Water Use Rules: Turf Replacement Rebates (2026)

180 applies to all projects required to submit a landscape design package to the City and sets seven turf restrictions. Turf cannot be used on slopes greater than 25 percent where the toe of the slope meets an impermeable surface, and any planting area narrower than 10 feet in any direction must use subsurface irrigation or another method producing no runoff or overspray. On commercial, industrial or multifamily landscapes, no turf may be installed in a median, parking lot island or parkway unless the City Manager determines a limited strip is necessary for safe pedestrian access from a parked vehicle to the sidewalk, and no turf may go on any site portion inaccessible or unusable to people.

Decorative cool-season turf is barred outright on commercial or industrial projects, and warm-season turf on those projects is capped at 15 percent of the total landscape area. Athletic fields, parks, golf courses and cemeteries must limit turf to areas essential for facility operation, as determined by the City Manager, with non-essential areas landscaped in lower-water-use plants, and no turf is allowed anywhere it cannot be efficiently irrigated without overspray or runoff. 200, so a turf-heavy design can independently fail both the turf cap and the water-budget calculation.