Redlands, CA Landscaping Rules: Water Restrictions (2026)

Redlands City Code chapter 13.06 sets up a four-stage mandatory water conservation plan that the city council activates by ordinance after a public hearing under section 13.06.040. Once Stage II, Mandatory Compliance/Water Alert, is declared under section 13.06.080(B), sprinkler irrigation of lawns, gardens, trees and other plants is allowed only on a city-designated irrigation day and is prohibited between 12:00 noon and 8:00 P.M., though a handheld hose, a handheld five-gallon bucket, or drip irrigation may be used at any time. The same designated-day and noon-to-8 P.M. rules extend to washing vehicles and boats, refilling uncovered pools and spas, and irrigating golf greens and tees; golf course fairway irrigation is flatly prohibited unless treated or reused water is used.

Stage III, Water Warning, tightens outdoor irrigation of all vegetation to designated days using only handheld hoses, drip irrigation or handheld buckets, still barred between noon and 8 P.M., and bans watering golf tee areas except with reused water. Stage IV, Water Emergency, invoked under California Water Code section 350 et seq. when ordinary demand cannot be met without depleting the supply, confines all outdoor irrigation to designated days between 8:00 P.M. and midnight, prohibits refilling pools and spas at any time, and halts new water service connections.

The director of public works sets the irrigation-day calendar under section 13.06.070, and the public works department monitors supply and demand daily each June through October under section 13.06.080. A water user who believes compliance is not reasonably possible may request relief from the city manager under section 13.06.090, with a right to appeal an adverse decision to the city council within ten days.