The City of Taft has adopted in full the State of California Model Water Efficient Landscape Ordinance (MWELO), Sections 490 through 495 of Chapter 2.7, including all appendices, of Division 2 Department of Water Resources, of Title 23 Waters, of the California Code of Regulations.
(A) Legislative Findings: The California state legislature has found:
1. The waters of the state are of limited supply and are subject to ever increasing demands;
2. The continuation of California’s economic prosperity is dependent on the availability of adequate supplies of water for future uses;
3. It is the policy of the state to promote the conservation and efficient use of water and to prevent the waste of this valuable resource;
4. Landscapes are essential to the quality of life in California by providing areas for active and passive recreation and as an enhancement to the environment by clean air and water, preventing erosion, offering fire protection and replacing ecosystems lost to development;
5. Landscape design, installation, maintenance and management can and should be water efficient; and
6. Section 2 of article X of the California Constitution specifies that the right to use water is limited to the amount reasonably required for the beneficial use to be served and the right does not and shall not extend to waste or unreasonable method of use.
(B) Purpose: Consistent with these legislative findings, the purpose of this title is to:
1. Promote the values and benefits of landscaping practices that integrate the conservation and efficient use of water;
2. Establish a structure for planning, designing, installing, maintaining and managing water efficient landscapes in new construction and rehabilitated projects;
3. Establish provisions for water management practices and water waste prevention for existing landscapes;
4. Use water efficiently without waste by setting a maximum applied water allowance as an upper limit for water use and reduce water use to the lowest practical amount;
5. Promote the benefits of consistent landscape ordinances with neighboring local and regional agencies;
6. Encourage the use of economic incentives that promote the efficient use of water, such as implementing a tiered rate structure; and
7. Encourage cooperation between the city and local agencies to implement and enforce this section.
(C) Applicability; Exceptions:
1. After December 1, 2015, this section shall apply to all of the following landscape projects:
(a) New construction projects with an aggregate landscape area equal to or greater than five hundred (500) square feet requiring a building or landscape permit, plan check or design review;
(b) Rehabilitated landscape projects with an aggregate landscape area equal to or greater than two thousand five hundred (2,500) square feet requiring a building or landscape permit, plan check, or design review;
(c) Existing landscapes limited to Sections 493, 493.1, and 493.2 of the State Model Water Efficiency Landscape Ordinance; and
(d) Recognizing the special landscape management needs of cemeteries, new and rehabilitated cemeteries are limited to Sections 492.4, 492.11, 492.12, and existing cemeteries are limited to Sections 493, 493.1, and 493.2.
2. This section does not apply to:
(a) Registered local, state or federal historical sites;
(b) Ecological restoration projects that do not require a permanent irrigation system;
(c) Mined land reclamation projects that do not require a permanent irrigation system; or
(d) Plant collections, as part of botanical gardens and arboretums open to the public.
(D) Soil Preparation, Mulch and Amendments: The following compost and mulch use requirements that are part of the MWELO are now also included as requirements of this ordinance. Property owners or their building or landscape designers that meet the threshold for MWELO compliance outlined above shall:
1. Comply with Sections 492.6 (a)(3) of the MWELO, which requires the submittal of a landscape design plan with a soil preparation, mulch, and amendments section to include the following:
(a) For landscape installations, Compost at a rate of a minimum of four cubic yards per 1,000 square feet of permeable area shall be incorporated to a depth of six (6) inches into the soil. Soils with greater than six percent (6%) organic matter in the top six (6) inches of soil are exempt from adding Compost and tilling.
(b) For landscape installations, a minimum three- (3-) inch layer of mulch shall be applied on all exposed soil surfaces of planting areas except in turf areas, creeping or rooting groundcovers, or direct seeding applications where mulch is contraindicated. To provide habitat for beneficial insects and other wildlife up to five percent (5%) of the landscape area may be left without mulch. Designated insect habitat must be included in the landscape design plan as such.
(c) Organic mulch materials made from recycled or post-consumer shall take precedence over inorganic materials or virgin forest products unless the recycled post-consumer organic products are not locally available. Organic mulches are not required where prohibited by local fuel modification plan guidelines or other applicable local ordinances.
2. The MWELO compliance items listed in this Section are not an inclusive list of MWELO requirements; therefore, property owners or their building or landscape designers that meet the threshold for MWELO compliance outlined above shall consult the full MWELO for all requirements.
(E) If, after the adoption of this ordinance, the California Department of Water Resources, or its successor agency, amends 23 CCR, Division 2, Chapter 2.7, MWELO requirements in a manner that requires the City to incorporate the requirements of an updated MWELO in a local ordinance, and the amended requirements include provisions more stringent than those required in this Section, the revised requirements of 23 CCR, Division 2, Chapter 2.7 shall be enforced. (Ord. 838-20, 8-18-2020)