Newport Beach, CA Landscaping Rules: Water Restrictions (2026)

Section 14.16.040 of the Newport Beach Municipal Code sets permanent, year-round conservation rules that apply even when no water shortage has been declared. Subsection A limits automatic sprinkler-station runtime to no more than 10 minutes per watering unless the system uses low-flow drip or bubbler emitters producing 2 gallons per hour or less, or a weather-based controller meeting a 70 percent efficiency standard. Subsection B bars potable irrigation of any lawn, landscape, or vegetated area between 9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. Pacific time, except by hand-held bucket or a hose fitted with a positive self-closing shutoff nozzle, or briefly to adjust or repair a system.

Subsection F adds a rain-trigger rule: no irrigation during a rainfall event or within 48 hours after at least a quarter inch of rain, as measured by the National Weather Service or the nearest CIMIS station. Subsection C prohibits runoff onto sidewalks, driveways, streets, alleys or ditches beyond incidental overspray, and Subsection E requires leaks in a customer's own plumbing to be fixed within three days of notice from the City. Beyond these permanent rules, Chapter 14.16 lets the City Council declare Levels One through Six water supply shortages under Section 14.16.050.

At Level One (up to a 10 percent reduction), the Director assigns each customer four irrigation days per week from April through October and two from November through March (Section 14.16.060). At Level Two (10 to 20 percent), that drops to three days in the warm months and one in the cold months, plus a billing-period use cap between 70 and 100 percent of a customer's baseline (Section 14.16.070). Level Three (20 to 30 percent) tightens further to two days and one day respectively, with usage capped between 50 and 90 percent of baseline (Section 14.16.080), and lawn areas become exempt from the City's separate landscape-maintenance 'unsightly' standard once a Level Three shortage is declared.