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Redding council adopts update to align city landscape rules with California's MWELO
Summary
The council voted to update the city's Water Efficient Landscape Ordinance to match the 2025 California Model Water Efficient Landscape Ordinance (MWELO); staff said the update adjusts evapotranspiration inputs, moves prescriptive compliance into the main text for small projects and revises who may certify irrigation audits.
The Redding City Council voted on Oct. 23 to update the city's local water‑efficient landscape ordinance to align with the 2025 California Model Water Efficient Landscape Ordinance (MWELO).
Jeremy Pagan, the city's Director of Development Services, introduced the update and said the local ordinance had fallen out of alignment after the state renumbered and revised sections in 2025. "This presentation will be outlining for you some of the changes as well as explain to you, the latest and greatest of what's happening," Pagan said.
Brian Dixon, a city plans examiner with landscape and irrigation experience who presented the technical details, said the update primarily clarifies and reorganizes text but includes a few substantive changes. Key items staff highlighted:
- The local ordinance will reference the state model ordinance and adopt the updated inputs used to calculate the maximum applied water allowance (a site'level water budget). Dixon said Redding's evapotranspiration (ETo) reference used in that calculation increases under the 2025 model from 48.8 inches per year to 52.9 inches per year.
- The prescriptive compliance option for small landscapes (roughly 500–2,500 square feet) was moved into the main body of the ordinance so it is a fully recognized compliance path rather than an appendix option.
- The certificate of installation for completed landscapes will be signed by the designer of record to confirm installation matched the approved plans.
- The update removes a strict third‑party requirement for irrigation audits; audits may be performed by qualified staff of a company provided the auditor is not the designer or installer of the project.
Dixon described how MWELO applies: it covers new landscapes greater than 500 square feet that require a permit and large rehabilitated landscapes, and it remains exempt for certain restoration, reclamation and historical sites. He said the 2025 state update was treated as a mostly clarifying revision but that the increased ETo input effectively raises allowable water budgets by roughly 8%.
After questions from council members about whether the local ordinance would be more restrictive than state rules, staff said the proposal adopts the state model and is not intended to be more onerous. Council voted to approve the ordinance update; staff recommended the council find the change exempt from CEQA and authorize the city attorney and clerk to complete the ordinance publication process.
The ordinance will change local references and technical links so plan reviewers and applicants can use consistent state guidance.
