Water restrictions in Nevada 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 western Nevada County is served by the Nevada Irrigation District (NID). Under NID's adopted Drought Contingency Plan, Stage 1 asks for 10% voluntary conservation and limits treated-water customers to every-other-day outdoor irrigation. Higher stages can mandate cutbacks, restrict new water sales to 1 miner's inch, and discourage flood irrigation. Truckee-area properties are served by the Truckee-Donner Public Utility District and follow its own conservation rules.
NID serves the foothill communities of Nevada County (including Nevada City, Grass Valley, Penn Valley, Lake of the Pines, and Alta Sierra) plus parts of Placer and Yuba. Its Drought Contingency Plan has multiple stages. Stage 1 (current baseline during dry years) requests 10% conservation versus normal use and limits treated/municipal customers to outdoor irrigation every other day. Stage 1 also caps new or increased agricultural water sales at 1 miner's inch and strongly discourages flood irrigation. NID's broader 2x2x2 water-efficiency program asks customers to avoid runoff onto sidewalks/streets, fix leaks within a set repair window, and irrigate during low-evaporation hours. State law (Cal. Code Regs. Title 23 § 996-997) independently prohibits hosing down driveways, irrigating during/after rain, and using non-recirculating fountains. Truckee-side properties draw from the Truckee-Donner Public Utility District and follow TDPUD's own drought rules; Town of Truckee Code Chapter 4.13 also governs water waste.
NID issues warning notices for first offenses and can apply administrative surcharges or shut off service for repeat water-waste violations. State waste-of-water regulations carry up to a $500 per day civil penalty (Cal. Water Code 1846).
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See how Nevada County's water restrictions rules stack up against other locations.
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