Amador County officials are reluctant to adopt new state landscape-watering mandates wholesale.

A Jan. 1, 2010 deadline exists for local agencies to either craft ordinance language or adopt model language written by the state to curb water waste in landscaping. However, members of the county Administrative Committee said they were leery of how the state's language could feasibly be applied locally.

In implementing the intent of Assembly Bill 1881, the county will not incur responsibility, for example, to regularly audit large landscape-water users, said Susan Grijalva, planning director.

"If one of those developments comes in, you've got to do an audit, but once that's done, the water agency through its random conservation audits would see (abuse) pop up," Grijalva said.

AB 1881 requires landscapers to use "appropriate technology," often meaning drip irrigation, according to the California Department of Water Resources.

However, AB 1881 only applies to single-family residences that are being put in by developers with gardens larger than 2,500 square feet, and applies to existing single family homes only where the landscaped area is more than 5,000 square feet and is undergoing a renovation.

Officials agreed that rural counties might need to band together to seek exemption or a special status in installing what is known as a Local Water Efficient Landscape Ordinance.

"Perhaps the Regional Council of Rural Counties could spearhead an effort for rural water-efficiency ordinances," said Martha Shaver, county counsel.

AB 1881 was written to cut into what is perceived as a serious problem of water wastage around the state on lavish watering practices and poorly designed or maintained landscape-irrigation technology.

"It's illegal under the State Constitution to waste water," Grijalva said.

The matter will come back to the Administration Committee for further work on Monday, Dec. 7.