To: Honorable Mayor and Members of City Council
From: Joy Eldredge, Utilities Director
Prepared By: Patrick Costello, Water Resources Analyst
TITLE:
Title
AB 1572 Non-Functional Turf Irrigation Regulations - Amendment to Napa Municipal Code Chapter 13.09.
LABEL
RECOMMENDED ACTION:
Recommendation
Approve the first reading and introduction of an Ordinance amending Napa Municipal Code Chapter 13.09 Water Conservation Regulations in accordance with Assembly Bill 1572 Non-Functional Turf Irrigation Regulations and determining that the actions authorized by this Ordinance are exempt from CEQA.
Body
DISCUSSION:
Following Nevada’s precedent of banning Colorado River water use for non-functional turf irrigation, and in light of recurring droughts and projected climate change impacts on California’s water supplies, the State Legislature adopted Assembly Bill 1572 (AB 1572) to address the wasteful use of potable water for irrigating unused lawn areas. Over the next three years, AB 1572 phases in a statewide prohibition on the use of potable water for non-functional turf irrigation at government properties (2027), all commercial, industrial, and all remaining institutional properties (2028), and homeowners’ association (HOA) and multi-family residential common areas (2029). Single-family residential properties and properties using recycled water are unaffected. “Turf” means “a living ground cover surface of mowed grass.” “Non-functional turf” is turf that is not located in a “recreational use area” or “community space.” These and all other relevant definitions and provisions are contained in the bill (Attachment 2) and California Water Code Division 6 Part 2.55 Chapters 2 and 2.5 (Attachment 3).
All public water systems must revise their regulations, ordinances, or policies governing water service to include the requirements of AB 1572 by no later than January 1, 2027. The City already has an adopted set of Water Waste Prohibitions in Napa Municipal Code (NMC) Chapter 13.09. These include actions such as overwatering that causes excessive flowing runoff, watering within 48 hours of a significant rain event, and washing driveways and sidewalks with drinking water. Violations are subject to progressive enforcement with education, warnings, $100, $200, and $500 fines. City Water staff recommend simply adding the AB 1572 non-functional turf irrigation prohibition to NMC Chapter 13.09, linking it to the governing State Code sections which may be amended over time. The California Water Efficiency Partnership (CalWEP) recommends this as the best AB 1572 strategy for agencies that already have a comprehensive water waste ordinance with enforcement provisions, as it uses an established legal framework that is familiar to staff and customers.
The City is also obligated to educate water customers potentially affected by AB 1572. In this effort, we benefit from our longstanding membership in CalWEP, which has produced a comprehensive Non-Functional Turf Outreach Toolkit for water suppliers, along with a customer-facing web site, NonfunctionalTurfCA.org. In February, City Water staff convened a meeting of the Countywide Water Conservation Group regarding AB 1572 implementation and provided all other Napa County water agencies with access to the CalWEP toolkit materials.
With the CalWEP Landscape Area Measurement (LAM) Explorer, City Water staff are creating maps for individual parcels showing areas that the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) considers to be non-functional turf based on recent aerial photos. After some ground-truthing of the LAM Explorer maps, staff will be sending out letters to affected customers this fall alerting them of AB 1572 requirements and gathering their feedback on the DWR non-functional turf area designations for their property. More immediately, staff will be meeting with managers of government properties that are first impacted by AB 1572, including the City, County, and Napa Valley Unified School District.
Because it simply prohibits the use of drinking water for irrigation, AB 1572 does not actually mandate the removal of non-functional turf lawns. However, an underlying goal of the law is to transform unused high-water-use lawns into more climate-appropriate landscapes, not simply letting them go brown and get taken over by weeds. To that end, City Water has made enhancements to the Cash For Grass Turf Removal Rebate Program this summer as a stronger financial incentive for lawn transformation. The basic program now offers $2.00 per square foot of unused lawn replaced with low-water-use plants (was $1.00). The maximum rebate amount per water account has been raised to $10,000 for commercial, industrial, institutional, multi-family residential, and HOAs (was $2,500). The maximum for single-family residential accounts is now $2,000 (was $750).
Many property owners have long been aware of AB 1572 and have proactively taken on lawn transformation projects, with City Water staff advising them on their non-functional turf area designations. Along with the alert letters and maps sent this fall, staff will also spread the word to remaining affected customers over the coming year through channels such as the City’s Economic Development monthly newsletter, the Napa Chamber of Commerce bimonthly newsletter, and special AB 1572 Water-Wise Landscaping Workshop sessions.
FINANCIAL IMPACTS:
The changes to NMC Chapter 13.09 are regulatory in nature and are not expected to have a significant impact on revenues or expenditures. Reduced water sales will result from reduced irrigation at AB 1572-affected properties, but these are expected to be insignificant compared to overall community water use trends and other programs used to meet SB 606/AB 1668 “Making Water Conservation a California Way of Life” targets.
CEQA:
City staff recommends that the City Council determine that the Recommended Action is exempt from CEQA pursuant to CEQA Guidelines Sections 15307 and 15308 which exempt regulatory actions taken by the City to assure the maintenance, restoration, or enhancement of a natural resource or protection of the environment.
DOCUMENTS ATTACHED:
ATCH 1 - Ordinance
ATCH 2 - Assembly Bill No. 1572
ATCH 3 - California Water Code Chapters
NOTIFICATION:
Legal notice of the public hearing was published in the Napa Valley Register on September 3, 2026.