Countywide

Faced with low water supplies, the San Diego County Board of Supervisors approved an ordinance Tuesday that calls for more efficient use of water for outdoor landscaping.

The ordinance, which takes effect Oct. 1, sets regulations and guidelines that will manage landscape water use for new projects--including commercial, industrial and multiresidential developments--requiring county approval, according to officials.

Single-family developments are exempt from the new regulations, which were drafted to improve landscape design to conserve water, promote irrigation efficiency and reduce the planting of turf grass. The county Planning Commission, in its standard review of all new projects, will apply the new rules. No specific planting recommendations were made.

The board also gave preliminary approval to another ordinance that calls for the use of low-flow toilets to boost the county’s water conservation efforts. The board is expected to adopt the ordinance March 27.

If approved, such an ordinance would require that all new buildings and existing buildings undergoing renovation be equipped with low-flow toilets that use 1.6 gallons of water per flush. Most existing toilets use 3.5 gallons.

If all new housing units in the unincorporated area were to be equipped with low-flow toilets, county officials estimate, 2 billion gallons of water a year would be saved.