Watsonville, CA Landscaping Rules: Water Restrictions (2026)

Section 6-3.432 of the Watsonville Municipal Code lists water uses that are unlawful for any person in the City of Watsonville. The irrigation clock rule is subsection (f): no irrigation of turf, lawns, gardens or ornamental landscaping between 9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m., except by drip irrigation or hand watering with a quick-acting shut-off nozzle. The section assigns no watering days by address, so the restriction is a daily time window. Subsection (a) bans watering grass, lawn, ground cover, shrubbery, open ground, crops or trees, including agricultural irrigation, and any indiscriminate running or washing with water, in a manner or to an extent that allows water to run to waste. Subsection (c) bans using a hose without a quick-acting positive shut-off nozzle.

The next sections tighten how landscapes are built and run. Section 6-3.433 requires all development to use water conservation, water recycling and xeriscaping to the maximum extent possible. Section 6-3.434 requires separate landscape water meters where the combined landscaped area is greater than 5,000 square feet. Section 6-3.435 requires irrigation systems to be designed and maintained to avoid runoff, over-spray, low head drainage or similar conditions where water flows to waste. Section 6-3.436 bars turf in median strips, parking islands, areas less than eight feet wide, and on slopes that will cause excess irrigation runoff, unless required for storm water erosion control by the Public Improvement Standards. Under § 6-3.437, water use in combined landscaped areas greater than 5,000 square feet is monitored against the MAWA. Areas above it require an audit, the Director decides the mitigation, and failure to implement it is a violation of the Code. Section 6-3.415 separately forbids irrigation use from fire hydrants.