Since 2015, California has required building permit applicants to fulfill state MWELO (Model Water Efficient Landscape Ordinance) and local WELO (Water Efficient Landscape Ordinance) standards in their submittals. Yet WELO still remains a complex, and variable, requirement to navigate. Our first post on the topic explained the origins and applicability of WELO. Read on to learn more about what’s needed to fulfill your city’s WELO requirements.

What kind of documentation is required for a WELO submittal?

Complying with a water efficiency ordinance involves coordinating documentation from a variety of landscape professionals. Many an Architect encountering a municipal WELO or the state MWELO for the first time is surprised—or dismayed—to learn the depth and detail needed for even a "simple" submittal. Because each agency may adopt a local WELO that is stricter than the state’s model, specific requirements vary from location to location. Here we discuss only the California MWELO, so be sure to investigate your city or town’s ordinance further.

The typical WELO submittal follows what is known as the "Performance Pathway," which requires detailed construction documents and defines specific design criteria for planting, irrigation, and grading. Per the MWELO the Performance Pathway is mandatory for projects requiring a permit, plan check, or design review, that are either (a) new construction with landscape areas of 500+ sf or (b) rehabilitated landscapes of 2,500+ sf*. The Performance Pathway submittal comprises:

1. Project Information

2. Water Efficient Landscape Worksheet (Hydrozone Information Table and Water Budget Calculations)

3. Soil Management Report 

4. Landscape Design Plan (including Planting Plan)

5. Irrigation Design Plan 

6. Grading Design Plan

It's worth noting that the Soil Management Report must be prepared by a soil testing lab; the Landscape Design Plan and Irrigation Design Plan must be signed by a licensed Landscape Architect, licensed Landscape Contractor, or other “person authorized to design a landscape”**; and the Grading Design Plan must be signed by a licensed professional (such as a Landscape Architect or Civil Engineer). The Hydrozone Information Table and Water Budget Calculations may be developed by anyone, but they build on information in the Planting Plan and Irrigation Design Plan. These requirements hint at the time and effort required to prepare a WELO submittal.

Some local agencies allow a streamlined submittal known as the "Prescriptive Pathway" for projects requiring a permit, plan check, or design review that include modification of 2,500 sf or less of landscaping. Sometimes called the "Appendix D pathway" because it is defined in Appendix D of the MWELO, the Prescriptive Pathway submittal comprises:

1. Project Information

2. Landscape Design Plan

3. Soil amendment, mulch, plant material, and irrigation systems compliance***

Although less documentation is required, the Prescriptive Pathway still defines criteria for plant types, water use, irrigation system components, and soil management. The Landscape Design Plan still must be signed by a licensed Landscape Architect, licensed Landscape Contractor, or other authorized person**. And any Soil Analysis Report must be provided by a soil testing lab.

If at this point you’re thinking that even the Prescriptive Pathway option sounds like a lot of work, you’re right—which is why so many Architects find themselves in a cold sweat when they realize on the eve of their submittal (or worse, after) that they’re missing a WELO documentation package. Landscape Architects are all too familiar with that panicked, 11th-hour call needing a “landscape plan for submittal” that we would love to design but simply can’t on short notice.

To learn more about what’s involved in producing the Performance and Prescriptive MWELO documentation, and how you can give yourself the best chance at a successful submittal, please read our next post.

*Unless you’re applying for a permit in, say, Portola Valley, which has a threshold of 1,000 square feet for rehabilitated landscapes.

**Unless you’re applying for a permit in, say, Palo Alto, which only allows submittals to be signed by a Landscape Architect or Landscape Contractor.

***Requirements vary by agency.

Does my project require a WELO submittal?

Here’s a nifty flowchart from the California Department of Water Resources that can help you determine whether the MWELO applies to your project; note that if your project does not require a building or landscape permit, plan check or design review, your city or town might not require a WELO submittal from you: