Water restrictions in El Dorado County, CA — also called the watering schedule, outdoor irrigation rules, or drought ordinance — set which days and hours you can run sprinklers or irrigation.
Most of unincorporated El Dorado County's foothill population is served by El Dorado Irrigation District (EID), which sets watering-day rules by season under its water shortage contingency plan. South Lake Tahoe and the Tahoe Basin are served by South Tahoe Public Utility District (STPUD) and Tahoe Keys Water Company. EID's standard schedule allows once-per-week irrigation Nov 16-Apr 15, twice-per-week Apr 16-Jun 15 and Sep 16-Nov 15, and three-times-per-week Jun 16-Sep 15, with even-numbered addresses on Sun (and Wed/Fri) and odd-numbered on Sat (and Tue/Thu). Irrigation is recommended between 7 p.m. and 10 a.m. and must be turned off during and 48 hours after measurable rainfall. Authority is California Water Code Section 350 et seq.
Outdoor water use in unincorporated El Dorado County is controlled at the water-purveyor level rather than the County level. The County's largest water purveyor is El Dorado Irrigation District (EID), which serves the central and western foothill population centers - Placerville (provided as wholesale and to its surrounding area), El Dorado Hills, Cameron Park, Shingle Springs, Diamond Springs, El Dorado, and Pollock Pines. EID's water shortage contingency plan and conservation rules set the standard watering schedule by season under California Water Code Section 350 et seq. and the State Water Resources Control Board's emergency conservation regulations. The standard EID schedule is: once-per-week watering Nov 16 to Apr 15, twice-per-week Apr 16 to Jun 15 and Sep 16 to Nov 15, and three-times-per-week Jun 16 to Sep 15. Customers with even-numbered addresses irrigate on Sunday (winter), Wednesday and Sunday (spring/fall), or Sunday, Wednesday, and Friday (summer); odd-numbered addresses irrigate on Saturday, Tuesday and Saturday, or Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday. Irrigation is recommended only between 7:00 p.m. and 10:00 a.m. (to reduce evaporative loss), and customers must turn off irrigation systems during and for 48 hours following measurable rainfall. EID has lifted drought-emergency restrictions during wetter years and may layer additional Stage 1-5 shortage restrictions during dry years. In the Lake Tahoe Basin, South Tahoe Public Utility District (STPUD) serves most of the South Lake Tahoe area and parts of unincorporated El Dorado County including Meyers, and applies its own conservation and water-waste rules. Tahoe Keys Water Company serves the Tahoe Keys subdivision. State backstop rules - permanent water waste prohibitions adopted by the State Water Board under the Making Conservation a California Way of Life regulations - apply to all customers regardless of purveyor and prohibit runoff irrigation, watering during/after rain, washing impervious surfaces with potable water, and use of non-recirculating decorative fountains.
Watering outside an EID customer's assigned days or violating water waste rules can result in EID warning notices and escalating administrative fines under EID Administrative Code. STPUD and Tahoe Keys Water Company customers face similar utility-level enforcement. Statewide water waste prohibitions adopted by the State Water Resources Control Board are independently enforceable and carry fines up to $500 per violation under California Water Code Section 1846.5. Repeat or willful violators can face water service flow restrictors or service termination.
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