Arcadia, CA Landscaping Rules: Water Restrictions (2026)

The watering schedule sits in Section 7553.7.1 of the Arcadia Municipal Code, the Phase 1 list of prohibited uses that applies to all customers of the Water Division. Subsection (g) closes the middle of the day: no lawn, landscape or other turf area is watered or irrigated between 9:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. Pacific time. Subsection (h) stops irrigation during and within 48 hours after measurable rainfall. Subsection (i) caps irrigation at 3 days per week and names Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday, or such other number of days and such other days as the City Council prescribes by resolution.

Property used primarily for commercial, industrial or institutional purposes can seek a different schedule. The owner applies in writing to the Public Works Services Director, and the Director can approve irrigation on the number of days per week approved if the owner shows, to the Director's satisfaction, that overall bi-monthly water use fell by at least twenty-five percent (25%) from the same bi-monthly period in 2013, or by another measurement the City Council adopts by resolution.

Subsection (j) bans watering in a wasteful manner, with runoff onto adjacent property, non-irrigated areas, private and public walkways, roadways, parking lots or structures as the named example. Subsection (k) lets the City Council add restrictions by resolution, effective on adoption and subject to the same fines and penalties. Subsections (a) and (b) bar hose washing of sidewalks, walkways, driveways and parking areas and require a shut-off nozzle on any hose used to wash a motor vehicle.

New and rehabilitated landscapes covered by the Water Efficient Landscaping ordinance follow a separate clock. Section 7554.5.C.2 schedules overhead irrigation between 8:00 p.m. and 10:00 a.m., and where the water purveyor's hours differ, the stricter of the two applies. Running the system outside that window is allowed for auditing and system maintenance.

Phases are set by Council resolution under Section 7553.8, published one time in a daily newspaper of general circulation. Section 7553.7.9 exempts water needed for public health and safety and for essential governmental services such as police and fire. Separately, Section 7540.2.1 lets the Superintendent restrict watering of lawns or shrubbery by oral, written or published notification when the use is contrary to public safety or welfare.