Lancaster, CA Landscaping Rules: Water Restrictions (2026)

Section 8.48.030 lists the specific acts that count as prohibited "waste of water," "prohibited at all times." Subsection (E) sets the watering-hours rule: "Irrigating lawns and/or landscaped improvements between ten (10) a.m. and ten (10) p.m. except from October 31st through the following March 1st." In practice, daytime watering is banned March through October, while the restriction lifts entirely during the cooler months from November through February. Subsection (D) separately bans letting sprinkler runoff "persist for more than two minutes total duration" from broken or misdirected systems, and subsection (F) requires hoses used to wash vehicles to have an operable shutoff nozzle, or that washing be done by bucket, so water doesn't run freely into the gutter.

Section 8.48.040 makes any act of water waste "a public nuisance" subject to the abatement procedure in Chapter 8.28, meaning the city can order the condition corrected and, if the owner doesn't act, abate it and bill the cost to the responsible person. Section 8.28.040 sets the underlying penalty: a misdemeanor unless a prosecutor charges it as an infraction, with each day of continuing waste a separate offense. Section 8.48.050 gives the city a legal shortcut in prosecution: proof that water waste originated at a residence or business creates "a prima facie presumption" that the owner or occupant is responsible, shifting the burden to explain otherwise. A property owner or occupant who needs relief can apply to the city manager for a variance under Section 8.48.060, granted case by case.

This watering-hours rule sits alongside, but is separate from, Lancaster's Chapter 8.50 landscape design ordinance, which sets water-budget and plant-selection standards for new and rehabilitated landscapes rather than day-to-day irrigation timing.