Colusa County, CA Water Use Rules: Turf Replacement Rebates (2026)

020, part of the Zoning Code adopted August 26, 2014 and administered by the Department of Planning and Building. 010 sets the trigger: any new construction or rehabilitated landscape of 2,500 square feet or more that needs a building permit, plan check or zoning permit, in the urban residential zones (R-1 through R-4), commercial zones (C-1, C-2, C-H, C-R, MU), industrial zones (M-1, M-2, RD) or the recreational (G-R) zone. Registered historic sites, ecological restoration projects, mined-land reclamation projects without permanent irrigation, and public botanical gardens or arboretums are exempted outright.

020(B), water-intensive turf is limited to 25 percent of the total landscaped area for residential, commercial and industrial sites, though sports parks and ball fields that need large open turf areas can exceed that share. Turf is barred from any slope of 25 percent grade or steeper anywhere the section applies. The code frames these as guidelines the county encourages rather than a flat ban, but landscape plans for a covered project still go to the Department of Planning and Building for review, and the review authority (Planning Commission for a Use Permit, or the Zoning Administrator for an Administrative or Minor Use Permit) signs off on the plan before work proceeds.