10608.14.
(a) The use of potable water for the irrigation of nonfunctional turf located on commercial, industrial, municipal, institutional, and multifamily residential properties is prohibited as of the following dates:(1) All properties owned or leased by the Department of General Services, beginning January 1, 2026.
(2) All municipal and institutional properties, except those specified in paragraph
(5), beginning January 1, 2027.
(3) All commercial and industrial properties, beginning January 1, 2028.
(4) All multifamily residential properties, except those specified in paragraph (5), and all properties of homeowners’ associations, common interest developments, and community service organizations or similar entities, but not including the residences of these entities’ members or separate interests, beginning January 1, 2029.
(5) All multifamily residential affordable housing properties and all municipal
institutional properties in a disadvantaged community, beginning January 1, 2030.
(b) Notwithstanding subdivision (a), the use of potable water is not prohibited by this section to the extent necessary to ensure the health of trees and other perennial nonturf plantings, or to the extent necessary to address an immediate health and safety need.
(c) The board may extend the postpone a compliance date deadline in subdivision (a)
by up to three years for certain persons, institutions, and businesses by regulation.
(d) The board shall develop and adopt regulations no later than July 1, 2025, that shall establish both of the following:
(1) Procedures and criteria for compliance deadline extensions, including economic hardship, critical business need, and any other categories the board determines are essential to public health and safety.
(2) Methods of compliance certification to the board by property owners.
(e) Public water systems shall
shall, by no later than January 1, 2026, revise their regulations, ordinances, or policies governing water service to include impose the requirements of subdivisions (a) and (b), and any extensions thereto adopted by the board no later than January 1, 2026, as revised by the board pursuant to subdivisions (c) and (d), and shall communicate the requirements to their customers on or before that date.
(f) (1) An owner of commercial, industrial, municipal,
and institutional property with more than 5,000 square feet of irrigated area other then a cemetery shall certify to the board, commencing June 30, 2029, and every three years
thereafter through 2038, that their property is in compliance with the requirements of this chapter.
(2) An owner of a multifamily residential property with more than 5,000 square feet of irrigated area shall certify to the board, commencing June 30, 2030, and every three years thereafter through 2039, that their property is in compliance with the requirements of this chapter.
(g) Noncompliance by a person or entity with this chapter or regulations adopted thereunder shall be subject to civil liability and penalties set forth in Section 1846, or to civil liability and penalties imposed by an urban retail water supplier pursuant to a locally adopted ordinance or policy.
(h) A public water system, city,
county, or city and county may enforce the provisions of this chapter.
(i) (1) Beginning July 1, 2030, the board, with input from public water systems as described in paragraph (4), shall annually conduct a compliance audit for two of the state’s hydrologic regions, so that all of the state’s hydrologic regions receive an audit once every five years. The audit shall be based upon a representative sample of properties subject to the requirements of subdivision (a) and shall include all of the following:
(A) Visual inspections of commercial and industrial properties known to have large lots and significant landscaping.
(B) Visual inspections of nonresidential properties with extraordinarily high
water use.
(C) Visual inspections of nonresidential addresses that have been the subject of water waste complaints in the past year.
(2) Visual inspections shall be conducted without entry to nonpublic properties or premises.
(3) The board shall post the audit data on
its internet website, including both of the following:
(A) Number of inspections conducted by property type.
(B) Number of violations identified.
(4) The board may coordinate with public water systems to identify readily available information regarding properties that may be in violation of this section.
(j) The department shall, using funds appropriated for water conservation and integrated regional water management, prioritize financial assistance for nonfunctional turf replacement to public water systems serving disadvantaged communities and to owners of affordable housing.
(k) The department shall utilize the saveourwater.com internet website and outreach campaign to provide information and resources on converting nonfunctional turf to native vegetation.
(l) The department shall analyze and quantify how compliance with this chapter supports the goal of reducing reliance on the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta as directed by Division 35 (commencing with Section 85000).
(m) The division is requested to, in consultation with the Department of Education, disseminate information on native and climate-appropriate plants that support vibrant ecosystems, including pollinators, in schools serving kindergarten and grades 1 through 12.
(n) The division’s vice president is requested to,
no later than June 30, 2026, report to the Senate Committee on Natural Resources and Water and the Assembly Committee on Water, Parks, and Wildlife on progress in implementing this chapter.
(o) The Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development shall support small and minority-owned businesses that provide services that advance compliance with this chapter.