Calaveras County, CA Water Use Rules: Leak Reporting Duty (2026)

Section 13.01.060(C) sits inside the pollutant-control-measures section of Chapter 13.01, Stormwater Quality, enforced by the county Building Department director as the county's designated MS4 permit holder (§ 13.01.020). It applies to "parties responsible for runoff in excess of incidental runoff," the same property owners, developers, industrial or commercial operators, and construction site operators already required under § 13.01.060(B) to install and maintain best management practices consistent with the California Stormwater Quality Association handbook. Three duties follow: detect leaks, including from broken sprinkler heads, and correct them within seventy-two hours of learning of the leak; properly design and aim sprinkler heads; and never irrigate during a precipitation event.

These sit alongside the county's separate duty to report illicit discharges immediately, calling 911 for a hazardous material release or notifying the Building Department in person or by phone for a non-hazardous one (§ 13.01.050). A missed leak-repair deadline feeds into the chapter's general enforcement scheme: the director can issue a written notice of violation or stop-work order specifying a compliance timeframe (§ 13.01.070); unpaid county cleanup costs can become a lien on the property under Government Code § 54988 (§ 13.01.080); other county permits are withheld until the violation is abated (§ 13.01.090); and violations are treated as a public nuisance with civil penalties starting at $1,000 for a first violation and rising to $10,000 for a third violation within a year (§ 13.01.110). Decisions may be appealed to the board of supervisors within ten working days (§ 13.01.130).