Iron County, UT Water Use Rules: Turf Replacement Rebates (2026)

Section 17.36.135, Water-wise landscaping standards, applies these turf limits to all new residential development and residential construction in unincorporated Iron County. The park strip, the area between the curb and gutter or road travel way and the property line or sidewalk, cannot be landscaped with lawn at all. Any lawn area that is planted must be at least 8 feet wide at its narrowest point, and total lawn cannot exceed 50 percent of the total landscaped area in the front and side yards; the 50 percent cap does not apply to small residential lots with less than 250 square feet of landscaped area.

New commercial, industrial, institutional and multifamily development common-area landscapes face a tighter limit: lawn cannot exceed 20 percent of the total landscaped area outside active recreation areas, and again no lawn is allowed in strips narrower than 8 feet or in park strips. The ordinance, adopted by Ordinance No. 2024-4 on June 10, 2024, effectively requires new development to replace the water-hungry turf that would otherwise cover a yard with water-wise plantings, rock, mulch or other low-water landscaping for the balance of the site. Iron County Planning and Zoning reviews landscape plans against these percentages as part of development and building permit approval; there is no exemption for existing, already-landscaped residential lots undergoing a remodel unless new landscaping area is added.