Sonoma County, CA Landscaping Rules: Water Restrictions (2026)

Sonoma County's published water-use restrictions apply to the small water systems the County itself operates through Sonoma Public Infrastructure - Fitch Mountain, Freestone, Jenner, and Salmon Creek. For those customers, outdoor watering for ornamental landscaping is limited to two days per week: Tuesday and Friday, between 12:00 AM and 6:00 AM, or between 8:00 PM and 11:59 PM. Watering is not permitted Sunday, Monday, Wednesday, or Thursday, and the restrictions do not apply to food grown for consumption. These watering windows reduce evaporation losses. Most unincorporated Sonoma County residents, however, are not on a county water system - they are on private wells or served by other providers such as California American Water or Sonoma Water contractors - and their day-to-day watering is governed by their supplier's rules and by statewide measures from the State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB). California's permanent statewide prohibitions (such as no hosing down hardscape, no runoff onto streets, and no irrigating in a way that causes runoff) apply regardless of provider. During declared droughts, the SWRCB and Sonoma Water can impose additional emergency cutbacks; the most recent statewide drought emergency was lifted in March 2023.