Council Bluffs, IA Landscaping Rules: Water Restrictions (2026)

CBMC Chapter 8.90, Emergency Water Conservation Plan, does not itself list watering days or hours. Instead, CBMC 8.90.010 adopts by reference the emergency water conservation plan approved by the Council Bluffs water works board of trustees on August 21, 1990 under Board Resolution 901-01-07, with the plan itself kept on file in the office of the city clerk rather than printed in the code. That structure was enacted by Ordinance 5028 in 1991. CBMC 8.90.020 gives the mayor authority and direction to take appropriate action set forth in that plan, meaning any specific outdoor watering restriction is triggered administratively rather than sitting as a standing numeric rule in Title 8.

Residents and businesses served by Council Bluffs Water Works should check with the water works board directly for the current status of the plan before assuming no restriction applies; the ordinance gives the mayor standing authority to activate it without a new council vote. Enforcement of Chapter 8.90 runs through the general penalty structure added by Ordinance 5630 in 2001: CBMC 8.90.030 makes conviction subject to the penalty provisions of CBMC 8.02.020, with each day a violation continues counted as a separate and distinct offense.

The city attorney has discretion to pursue a violation as a municipal infraction under CBMC 1.95 instead of criminal prosecution, which keeps most first-time violations out of criminal court while still carrying a fine.