Modified landscaping-water ordinances will govern the future of residential and commercial development in Amador County and will affect landscape renovation plans for some current property owners.

Meeting a legislated deadline, the county and its five cities will enact versions of what is known as a Local Water Efficient Landscape Ordinance. Such an ordinance is designed by state water officials 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. Sutter Creek's draft ordinance, expected to be adopted Dec. 7, is simply modeled on language from Assembly Bill 1881, passed in 2006, said Sean Rabe, assistant city manager.

"We don't want to write a whole ordinance," Rabe said.

The law takes effect on Jan. 1, 2010.

Officials from Amador County and from other local cities said their agencies might draft language of their own to enforce state mandates.

"We're looking at whether the county wants to adopt state language or do something different," said Nathan Lishman, county planner.

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.

AB 1881 and Sutter Creek's corresponding ordinance are aimed chiefly at new construction and commercial landscapers. AB 1881 will force increased usage of irrigation technology that will solve common problems - such as underground breaks in delivery systems gushing unnoticed for weeks.

The new laws will not diminish the development of soccer fields or golf courses - no language concerns specific plant types, such as turf. However, the law requires rationing the amount of water applied to public recreational turf.