Sacramento Watering Rules & Landscaping Regulations

If your water comes from the City of Sacramento, your yard runs on a legal watering schedule — two assigned days a week in summer, one weekend day in winter, and no midday watering at all. Break it and the penalties are written into the City Code, up to $500 per violation. Follow it well, though, and the same rulebook points to the loopholes that are not loopholes at all: drip irrigation, smart controllers, and a City rebate that currently pays $2.50 per square foot to take thirsty grass out.

This guide explains the rules exactly as the City of Sacramento publishes them today, plus the one landscaping regulation — California’s Model Water Efficient Landscape Ordinance — that can apply to a bigger yard project. It is general information only, not legal advice. Every figure below comes from an official source, cited by name and linked, so you can check it yourself.

One warning before the details: these are the rules for City of Sacramento water customers. The Sacramento area is served by many water providers, and each sets its own rules. The Sacramento Suburban Water District, for example, has declared Adequate Water Supply Conditions for 2026 (https://www.sswd.org/departments/conservation/watering-schedule) with no mandatory watering-day schedule — while still prohibiting watering between noon and 6:00 p.m. If another district’s name is on your water bill, that district’s schedule is the one that binds you.

With more than 30 years of hands-on landscaping experience in this area, here is how we walk Sacramento homeowners through it.

The summer schedule: March 1 through October 31

Section 13.04.870 of the Sacramento City Code, as amended by Ordinance No. 2017-0045 (https://www.records.cityofsacramento.org/ViewDoc.aspx?ID=s6tFBnt4W+ItBwSI//IwqcZUgi2XW3L5), sets the warm-season rules for landscape irrigation with city water:

• Odd-numbered addresses may irrigate only on Tuesday and Saturday.
• Even-numbered addresses may irrigate only on Wednesday and Sunday.
• No landscape irrigation at all on Monday, Thursday, or Friday.
• No landscape irrigation between 10 a.m. and 7 p.m. on any day. Water before 10 in the morning or after 7 in the evening.

That time window is not bureaucracy — it is Sacramento physics. In a July heat wave, a large share of sprinkler water applied at midday evaporates or drifts before it ever reaches a root zone in our clay soils. Early morning is the best slot: cooler air, calmer wind, and the water soaks in before the heat arrives.

The winter schedule: November 1 through February 28

In winter the same code section cuts everyone back to one weekend day: residential and commercial locations may irrigate only on Saturday or Sunday, and landscape irrigation is prohibited on the other days of the week. The 10 a.m.–7 p.m. ban is a summer rule; the winter limit is the day itself.

Honestly, most established Sacramento yards need little or no irrigation in a normal wet winter. Winter is when we tell customers to shut the controller down, let the rain do the work, and use the season for the repairs and conversions described below.

The rain rule — and the other year-round prohibitions

The schedule is only part of §13.04.870. These rules apply all year:

• No irrigation during rain, and none within 48 hours after measurable rainfall. The code defines measurable rainfall as 0.125 inches or more, as recorded at the National Weather Service rain gauge at Sacramento Executive Airport.
• No washing down sidewalks, driveways, or parking areas with city water, except to alleviate immediate fire, health, or sanitation hazards, or to implement an integrated pest management program, or with the director’s authorization.
• Car washing by hose requires an automatic shut-off nozzle, and the nozzle must actually be used to shut the flow off whenever the hose is not washing the vehicle.
• Fountains and decorative water features must use a recirculating system.
• Water waste runoff — water flowing off your property into a gutter or ditch from excessive application — is prohibited; incidental overspray on hardscape that does not run off the property is not counted as runoff.

The City asks residents to report water misuse — wrong day, wrong time, or overwatering — through 311 (call 311 or 916-264-5011, email 311@cityofsacramento.org, or use the 311 website or app), as its Water Conservation Services page (https://www.cityofsacramento.gov/utilities/water-conservation/services) explains. Assume a neighbor can see your sprinklers running at noon on a Monday, because one probably can.

The exemptions that matter for landscaping

This is the part of the ordinance that should shape how you design a Sacramento yard. Under §13.04.870, the day-and-time limits work differently for different kinds of irrigation:

Fully outside the day and time limits (subsection E):

• Low-volume irrigation systems — drip irrigation is the everyday example. A drip zone watering shrubs and trees at the root zone is not held to the two-day sprinkler schedule.
• Container plants.
• Hand watering with a watering can, or with a hose without an automatic timer.
• Running a system solely for testing, maintenance, or repair.

Outside the day limits only (subsection F — the 10 a.m.–7 p.m. summer ban still applies):

• New landscaping irrigated in accordance with City Code §13.04.880.
• Special landscape areas — the code’s definition covers areas used solely for growing edible plants, areas irrigated solely with recycled water, water features using recycled water, and public active-play surfaces such as parks and sports fields. Your vegetable garden is in this group.
• A verified smart controller — a controller that adjusts for site conditions such as soil moisture, rain, wind, slope, soil, plant type, and evapotranspiration; an EPA WaterSense-labeled controller counts, and the system must be properly installed and operated, as verified by the department.
• Heat wave periods — a period of consecutive 100-degree days (measured at Sacramento Executive Airport), beginning on the second consecutive 100-degree day and ending one day after the last one.

Read those two lists as design advice from the City itself: the yards that struggle under a two-day sprinkler schedule are spray-irrigated lawns. The yards that thrive are drip-irrigated planting beds on a smart controller — exactly the combination we build on our Irrigation and Drainage projects, and exactly what a water-efficient landscape conversion is built around.

What a violation costs

Penalties are set in City Code §13.04.890, counted per violation within a 12-month period (violations on separate calendar days are separate violations):

1. First violation: a written warning, which may include information about the City’s conservation services, including its Water Wise House Call program.
2. Second violation: a written notice and a $50 penalty — which is removed from the water bill if, within 60 days, the owner or occupant attends a City water conservation seminar or requests and accepts a Water Wise House Call. Only one such removal is allowed per premises in any 24-month period.
3. Third violation: a written notice and a $100 penalty.
4. Fourth and successive violations: a written notice and a $500 penalty each.

Three more facts worth knowing: the penalties are imposed on the property owner regardless of who committed the violation; during a City Council-declared water shortage the penalty amounts are doubled; and the director may waive a penalty if, within 120 days, the owner participates in a City incentive program to remove turf grass, upgrade an irrigation system, or install a smart controller. In other words, the City would rather you fix the yard than pay the fine — and it has built the programs below to help you do it.

Free City help — and the grass conversion rebate

Before paying anyone, use what the City gives away. Its Water Conservation Services page (https://www.cityofsacramento.gov/utilities/water-conservation/services) lists:

• Free house and business calls — a City water conservation specialist walks your property with you, helps set your sprinkler timer, brings free water-saving tools such as high-efficiency showerheads and faucet aerators, and pre-qualifies you for rebates. Call 916-808-5605 or email waterconservation@cityofsacramento.org.
• Free leak repair assistance for eligible single-family homes, covering indoor and outdoor leaks, performed by a City-approved contractor.
• A free water-use tracking website showing hourly, daily, and monthly use, with leak alerts you can set yourself.

The biggest program for a yard project is the City’s Grass Conversion rebate (https://www.cityofsacramento.gov/utilities/water-conservation/rebates/outdoor-rebates/grass-conversion). As the City publishes it today:

• For a limited time, applications submitted September 1, 2026 through February 28, 2027 can receive $2.50 per square foot to replace grass with water-efficient landscaping.
• Single-family customers can receive a maximum of $5,000 for conversions in the front, side, and back yards, plus up to $200 to help design a front yard landscape. Multi-family properties of three or more units, commercial, and institutional customers can receive up to $50,000 for grass conversion, irrigation upgrades, or a combination of both.
• Approval from City staff is required BEFORE you begin. Projects that have already been completed are not eligible.
• A qualifying project must include noninvasive, drought-tolerant plants of very low to low water use (groundcovers, shrubs, and trees), at least 60 percent plant coverage once plants are mature, a minimum of five plants, and either a drip irrigation system with an EPA WaterSense-certified smart controller or no irrigation system at all if you water by hand. Mulch — organic or inorganic — must be spread 2 to 5 inches deep under trees and shrubs.
• Not eligible for reimbursement: artificial grass, labor performed by a non-licensed (C-27) contractor, tree removal, equipment rental and tool purchases, herbicides, cardboard, soil amendments, border materials, boulders, and plants in raised beds or containers.
• After approval, the project must be completed and documented within 120 days, followed by a post-inspection. Questions go to riverfriendly@cityofsacramento.org or 916-808-1337. Rebates are available only while funds last.

That specification — living low-water plants at 60 percent coverage, drip on a smart controller, deep mulch — is a fair description of a well-built Xeriscaping conversion. If you are planning one, apply first, get the pre-inspection, and let the City’s checklist and your design be the same document.

The other regulation: MWELO and bigger landscape projects

Separate from the City’s watering schedule, California’s Model Water Efficient Landscape Ordinance (MWELO) governs the design of larger new and rehabilitated landscapes. Sacramento County’s Landscape Review page (https://planning.saccounty.gov/us/en/planning-environmental-review/applicants/landscape-review.html) states where County review applies:

• New construction projects with an aggregate landscape area of 500 square feet or more, and
• Rehabilitated landscape projects with an aggregate landscape area of 2,500 square feet or more.

Projects in that scope need construction-document planting and irrigation plans prepared by a qualified professional, submitted with the County’s WELO application for landscape review, and a Certificate of Completion after installation. Most single-homeowner yard remodels fall below these thresholds — but a full-property rebuild, a new build, or a large front-and-back conversion can cross them, and finding out at plan check is the expensive way to learn. If your project is anywhere near those sizes, confirm the requirement with the County before design work starts.

How to build a Sacramento yard the rules reward

Put the ordinance, the rebate spec, and 30-plus years of local work together and the same design keeps winning:

• Shrink the spray-irrigated lawn — or remove it while the $2.50-per-square-foot window is open — and put the area into planted beds instead.
• Convert beds to drip. Low-volume irrigation sits outside the day-and-time schedule, delivers water to root zones in clay soil slowly enough to soak in instead of running off, and is what the rebate requires anyway.
• Install an EPA WaterSense smart controller and have it set up properly — verified smart-controller irrigation is exempt from the day limits, and the controller skips cycles after rain, which keeps you inside the 48-hour rain rule automatically.
• Mulch planting beds 2 to 5 inches deep, as the rebate spec calls for — it holds soil moisture through a two-day gap between waterings and keeps clay soil from baking into brick in August.
• Group plants by water need (hydrozoning), so one valve never has to satisfy a thirsty plant and a drought-tolerant one at the same time.
• Keep the trees watered deeply and separately. The ordinance’s own findings say its limits are designed to protect the city’s trees — deep, infrequent drip or soaker watering for trees fits both the rules and the tree.

Our irrigation work — drip conversions, smart controllers, and full system rebuilds — comes with a 12-month workmanship warranty on work performed completely by us. See our Irrigation and Drainage page for how we design and install these systems, and our Xeriscaping page for the low-water landscapes the rebate is built to fund.

Frequently asked questions

What days can I water my lawn in Sacramento?

If the City of Sacramento is your water provider: from March 1 through October 31, odd-numbered addresses water on Tuesday and Saturday, even-numbered addresses on Wednesday and Sunday, never between 10 a.m. and 7 p.m., and not at all on Monday, Thursday, or Friday. From November 1 through February 28, watering is allowed on Saturday or Sunday only. Those are Sacramento City Code §13.04.870’s rules — other water districts in the region set their own schedules.

Does the watering schedule apply to drip irrigation?

No. Section 13.04.870 exempts low-volume irrigation systems — drip is the standard example — from the day and time limits, along with container plants, hand watering with a can or a hose without an automatic timer, and running a system solely for testing, maintenance, or repair. The runoff and rain rules still apply to every system.

Can I water a new lawn or new landscaping every day?

The day limits do not apply to new landscaping irrigated in accordance with City Code §13.04.880, to special landscape areas such as edible gardens, to irrigation run by a verified smart controller, or during a defined heat wave period. The summer 10 a.m.–7 p.m. ban still applies to those categories. Confirm your situation with the City before relying on an exemption — the director can also authorize variations case by case under §13.04.940.

How much is the fine for watering on the wrong day in Sacramento?

Under City Code §13.04.890: a written warning for a first violation in a 12-month period, $50 for a second (removable once per 24 months if you attend a City conservation seminar or accept a Water Wise House Call within 60 days), $100 for a third, and $500 for a fourth and each successive violation. Penalties double during a Council-declared water shortage, and they are charged to the property owner.

How much does Sacramento pay to replace grass with drought-tolerant landscaping?

The City’s Grass Conversion program currently offers $2.50 per square foot for applications submitted September 1, 2026 through February 28, 2027, up to $5,000 for single-family customers (plus up to $200 toward front-yard design help) and up to $50,000 for larger multi-family, commercial, and institutional properties. City approval and a pre-inspection are required before work begins, completed projects are not eligible, and artificial grass does not qualify. Funds are limited, so apply early.

Want a yard that stays green inside the rules?

Tell us which water district serves your home and what is struggling — a lawn on a two-day schedule, beds that dry out between waterings, a controller nobody can program — and we will design the drip conversion, smart controller, and planting plan that fits both the code and the rebate checklist. Call (916) 579-3063 for a free on-site estimate.

American Gardens Landscaping — serving Sacramento and surrounding areas, including Folsom, Roseville, Fair Oaks, Carmichael, Citrus Heights, Rancho Cordova, and El Dorado Hills.

Licensed • Bonded • Insured — CSLB Lic. #1105341

Regulations change. For the latest updates, please contact your city to confirm before building.