Woodland, CA Landscaping Rules: Water Restrictions (2026)

Woodland Municipal Code Chapter 13.32 sets a normal water supply condition plus six escalating shortage stages, each triggered when the Public Works Director determines the City's reliable supply can meet no more than a set share of projected demand: 90% for Stage One, 80% for Stage Two, 70% for Stage Three, 60% for Stage Four, 50% for Stage Five, and Stage Six for a supply or system failure exceeding a 50% shortfall. Under Stage Two, a water alert, all City water customers must cut use 10% from normal demand and outdoor watering is limited to three days a week; hosing hardscape and unrequested restaurant water service are also banned.

Stage Three tightens outdoor watering to two days a week, requires nonresidential users to cut irrigation 40% for existing landscapes, limits new landscaping to drought-tolerant trees, shrubs and ground cover with no new turf, and bans filling ornamental fountains. Stage Four bans irrigation of anything but trees or drought-tolerant plantings and bans filling pools and spas. Section 13.32.070 routes every violation of the chapter to the enforcement measures in Section 13.16.120, which lets the Public Works Director treat a violation as a nuisance, issue a notice to abate, or hit the property with an administrative citation.

Fines run $100 for a first offense, $200 for a second within a year, and $500 for each further violation, unless the shortage is tied to Section 13.16.100, which carries $1,000, $2,000 and $3,000 tiers instead. Additional remedies include installing a flow-restriction device at the customer's expense, requiring a separate landscape meter, recording violations on the property title, placing a lien, issuing a criminal citation, or charging a deposit equal to double average water use before restoring service.