Richmond council tables ordinance to remove mandatory subdivision irrigation systems

Richmond City officials debated a proposed amendment to Chapter 6.0 of the City’s Manual of Design & Construction Standards—Ordinance 2026-2—on April 21 before voting to table the measure.

City Recorder Justin B. Lewis described the amendment as narrowly focused: it would remove the city’s mandatory requirement that developers construct and dedicate secondary irrigation systems. He told council members that since the code’s adoption five years ago five subdivisions had been developed under the code but none had been connected to an operational irrigation water system.

Mayor Jeffrey D. Young and Councilmembers raised concerns about implementation and the broader consequences of removing the requirement. Councilmember Daryl Black stressed the need to consider water-share accounting and metering, noting Richmond owns roughly 98 water shares (with about 30 serving downtown) and cautioning that unused shares could be reassigned without demonstrated beneficial use. Mayor Young suggested the city could demonstrate beneficial municipal use and noted that other municipalities had converted irrigation shares to culinary use.

Councilmember Joel Draxler said the ordinance may have long-term cost implications for connecting secondary systems and suggested more study on consolidation of shares and potential future water policy changes.

After discussion, Councilmember Draxler moved to table Ordinance 2026-2; Councilmember Bryce Wood seconded. The motion to table passed 5-0.

The council requested additional information from Public Works and the City Engineer and agreed to revisit the ordinance at a future meeting.