New California law updates water restrictions for businesses
Restaurants, stores and other property owners will be banned from using drinking water to irrigate their lawns under a new California law.
Assembly Bill 1572 requires business owners, public agencies and other entities to phase out the use of potable water to irrigate nonfunctional and decorative turf starting in 2027.
Instead, they’ll have to use recycled and non-potable water to keep landscaping looking fresh and green.
Assemblywoman Laura Friedman, D-Burbank, introduced the bill in February.
Gov. Gavin Newsom signed the bill into law on Oct. 13, 2023, according to a news release from the Governor’s Office.
“Landscaping has so much potential to support California’s important goals to conserve water, support biodiversity and connect more people to nature,” Friedman said in a May news release.
Friedman is also the legislator behind a companion bill, Assembly Bill 1573, that aims to replace non-functional turf with California native plants for commercial and public landscaping projects in an effort to conserve water. AB 1573 was last amended Sept. 1.
Who’s affected by California’s new water law?
AB 1572 prohibits the use of drinking water to irrigate nonfunctional turf located on “commercial, industrial and institutional properties” and on “properties of homeowners’ associations, common interest developments, and community service organizations or similar entities.”
The list of property owners affected by the bill ranges from industrial parks and corporate campuses to government agencies.
Those watering restrictions do not apply to residential lawns, apartment complexes, sports fields or cemeteries, the Sacramento Bee previously reported.
What about my home’s landscape? My garden?
Under the bill, drinking water can still be used to water home landscapes, edible gardens and lawns that are used for “any type of recreational or civic gatherings,” according to a May news release from Friedman’s office.
When do new water restrictions take effect?
AB 1572 takes a phased approach that starts in 2027 and continues through 2031.
All properties that are owned by the California Department of General Services will be required to transition to recycled water starting Jan. 1, 2027, according to the California State Legislature.
That year, local governments, public water systems and local or regional public agencies will also need to make the shift to using recycled water.
One year later, commercial and industrial properties must stop using drinking water to irrigate their lawns.
Then, in 2029, homeowners’ associations, common interest developments and community service organizations must switch up their watering source.
The final phase will roll out in 2031 or when state funding is made available to local governments, local public agencies and public water systems in disadvantaged communities.
That includes areas of multifamily residential family homes.
The State Water Resource Control Board will need to create a “compliance certification” to ensure that owners of properties covered by AB 1572 are following the rules, according to the California State Legislature.
Why does the bill matter?
AB 1572’s efforts to ban the use of drinking water to irrigate lawns fall in line with Newsom’s goal to convert 500 million square feet of ornamental turf to climate-tolerant landscaping by 2030, The Sacramento Bee reported in October.
Ending irrigation of non-functional grass will save the equivalent of water used by as many as 780,000 households every year, according to the State Water Board.
In 2021, Nevada adopted a similar law that prohibits commercial and multi-family homes from irrigating lawns with Colorado River water.
Lawns are considered a “water wasting culprit,” according to the UC Cooperative Extension ’s Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources.
“If California’s home and public landscapes, parks, sports fields, and golf courses were not irrigated the state would save about 9% of its water consumption,” according to the Agriculture and Natural Resources division.
