The California Department of Water Resources has proposed an updated landscape ordinance that would make it all but impossible for owners of residential swimming pools to meet the state’s latest restrictions on outdoor water use.
Changes have been proposed to the state’s Model Water Efficient Landscape Ordinance (MWELO) that would include a residential swimming pool in the definition of residential landscape, rather than as a “special landscape area.”
This seemingly small change would subject swimming pools to the same water restrictions as the state currently has for plants. In previous versions of the state’s MWELO, swimming pools have been considered to be a “special landscape area,” so they are allotted a landscape efficiency factor sufficient to account for their actual evaporation.
The California Pool and Spa Association (CPSA) submitted comments to the state’s Water Resources Department in opposition to the proposed changes. The association argued that swimming pools and spas are not water features, because water fountains, waterfalls, artificial ponds, lakes, and streams generally do not have superstructure or associated project components like pools.
For example, a single-family residence with a swimming pool is surrounded by hardscape including patios, outdoor kitchens, recreational space, or decks. Because of this, according to the CPSA, the installation of swimming pools in California has reduced the demand for outdoor water by more than 125,000 acre-feet of water per year by removing large areas of backyards in single-family residences from ever being irrigated again.
Furthermore, swimming pools and spas are not plant- or bio-based material. Water use by a pool is primarily due to evaporation and cannot be changed or ratcheted down by best practices in grading, mulching, reduced fertilizer use, altering the irrigation system, or installation of shade trees. CPSA argued that MWELO water budgets discriminate against swimming pools, acting as a disincentive for pools to be included in single-family residential landscapes.
CPSA objected to that treatment in publictestimonyandwrittencomments and requested that swimming pools and spas be included or categorized as “special landscape areas.”
Finally, the CPSA noted that the state’s proposed new water conservation regulations would treat single-family residence pools differently compared to non-profit, multi-family housing entities, athletic clubs, or other commercial entities.
“ The laws of physics and evaporation are the same, no matter the ownership of the swimming pool or spa; thus, the allotted landscape efficiency factor should be consistently applied by these regulations,” CPSA stated in a recent newsletter.
The department must now take comments filed by interested parties under consideration and respond to them in the next round of the public process. CPSA is hopeful that proposed regulations by both the State Water Resources Control Board and the Department of Water Resources will treat swimming pools and spas consistently in line with the most recent proposal by the Water Board.
