§ 33-1320. Purpose. — Escondido Zoning Code

The state legislature determined in the Water Conservation in Landscaping Act (the "Act"), Government Code Section 65591 et seq., that the state's water resources are in limited supply. The legislature also recognized that while landscaping is essential to the quality of life in California, landscape design, installation, maintenance and management must be water efficient. The general purpose of this article is to establish water use standards for landscaping in the City of Escondido that implement the 2006 development landscape design requirements established by the Act.

Consistent with the legislature's findings, the purpose of this article is to:

(a) Promote the values and benefits of landscapes while recognizing the need to utilize water and other resources as efficiently as possible;
(b) Establish a structure for planning, designing, installing, maintaining, and managing water efficient landscapes in new construction;
(c) Promote the use, when available, of tertiary treated recycled water, for irrigating landscaping;
(d) Use water efficiently without waste by setting a maximum applied water allowance as an upper limit for water use and reduce water use for landscaping to the lowest practical amount; and

(e) Encourage water users of existing landscapes to use water efficiently and without waste. (Ord. No. 2010-01, § 4, 2-3-10)