Moreno Valley, CA Landscaping Rules: Water Restrictions (2026)
Water restrictions in Moreno Valley, CA, also called the watering schedule, outdoor irrigation rules, or drought ordinance, set which days and hours you can run sprinklers or irrigation.
Key Facts
- Watering hours
- 9:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. only
- Unattended station limit
- 15 minutes per day per station
- Governing section
- § 9.17.150(C), (D)
- Enforcement agency
- Local water purveyor (e.g. EMWD)
- Driveway hosing
- Barred except bucket/shutoff-nozzle hose
Summary
Moreno Valley's water efficiency ordinance limits landscape irrigation citywide to the hours of 9:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. and caps unattended sprinkler stations at 15 minutes of watering per day. Hosing down driveways and washing vehicles with a running hose are also restricted. Municipal Code § 9.17.150 sets these standards, enforced through the city's water purveyors.
C. Irrigate landscape only between nine p.m. and six a.m. This provision does not apply when: 1. Manually watering during the establishment period of a new landscape; 2. Temperatures are predicted to fall below freezing; 3. For very short periods of time for the express purpose of adjusting or repairing an irrigation system. D. Refrain from watering or irrigating of any lawn, landscape or other vegetated area with potable water using a landscape irrigation system or watering device that is not continuously attended unless it is limited to no more than 15 minutes watering per day per station.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: rev 4887234; v10 updated 2026-04-07).
Full Breakdown
150, 'Water efficiency requirements,' is a citywide conservation measure, not just a rule for new landscape plans. , with narrow exceptions for hand-watering a newly planted landscape during its establishment period, freezing temperatures, and brief system adjustments or repairs. Subsection D adds a 15-minute-per-station daily cap on any unattended irrigation system or watering device using potable water, extendable only for very-low-flow drip systems (no emitter over two gallons per hour) or weather-based/stream-rotor controllers meeting a 70% efficiency standard; run-off or over-watering is barred outright regardless of the exception used.
The same section separately bans hosing down driveways and other hard surfaces except for sanitary reasons using a bucket, a hand-held hose with a positive shut-off nozzle, or a recycling pressure washer, and bars letting a hose run while washing a vehicle. Decorative fountains must recirculate their water, and property owners must fix leaking faucets, toilets and pipes. 160 states the city 'will rely on water purveyors,' such as Eastern Municipal Water District, to enforce these requirements, potentially through tiered or allocation-based water rate structures, irrigation audits, and penalties for water waste billed through the customer's water account.
Violations & Fines
The city defers day-to-day enforcement to the local water purveyor (Eastern Municipal Water District for most of the city) rather than issuing citations itself. Section 9.17.160 authorizes the district to use tiered or allocation-based rate penalties, irrigation audits and surveys, and direct penalties for water waste; repeated water-waste violations can also be charged as a municipal code infraction or misdemeanor under §§ 1.01.200 and 1.01.230.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Sources & Official References
Other rules in Moreno Valley
How Moreno Valley compares: Cities with the Strictest Water Restrictions·California rules heatmap·Compare Moreno Valley to another location·View the California landscaping rules overview
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Water Restrictions in Nearby Cities
How other cities in Riverside County handle water restrictions.