Calaveras County, CA Water Use Rules: Recycled Water Rules (2026)
Key Facts
- Discharge threshold
- 25-year, 24-hour storm event or greater
- Notice deadline
- 24 hours by email
- Must identify
- Permittee name and permit ID number
- Recipient
- Applicable regional water board
- Penalty for violation
- $1,000 to $10,000 civil
Summary
Owners of ponds holding recycled water in Calaveras County may not let them discharge except when a twenty-five-year, twenty-four-hour storm event or larger forces an overflow. Even then, the owner must email the regional water board within twenty-four hours of the discharge, giving the permittee's name and permit number, under the county's stormwater quality ordinance.
Notwithstanding C3, owners of ponds containing recycled water shall ensure that no discharge occurs unless the discharge is a result of a twenty-five-year, twenty-four-hour storm event or greater, and the appropriate regional water board is notified by email no later than twenty-four hours after the discharge.1.The notification is to include identifying information, including the permittee's name and permit identification number.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: Code of Ordinances: Supplement 23 Update 2).
Full Breakdown
Section 13.01.060(D) sits within the pollutant control measures of Chapter 13.01, Stormwater Quality, and is written as a carve-out from the general incidental-runoff exception in subsection C3: "Notwithstanding C3," a pond containing recycled water may only discharge when the discharge results from a storm event equal to or exceeding a twenty-five-year, twenty-four-hour design storm. Whenever that threshold discharge occurs, the owner must notify the applicable regional water board by email no later than twenty-four hours after the discharge, and the notification must identify the permittee by name and include the permit identification number (§ 13.01.060(D)(1)).
The rule sits alongside the chapter's broader duty to report illicit discharges: a hazardous material release must be reported immediately through 911 emergency dispatch, while a non-hazardous release is reported to the Building Department in person or by phone (§ 13.01.050). It is enforced through the same director-led scheme as every other stormwater rule in the chapter: a written notice of violation or stop-work order under § 13.01.070, potential county cleanup billed to the owner with lien rights under Government Code § 54988 (§ 13.01.080), denial of other county permits while the violation is unabated (§ 13.01.090), and civil penalties treated as a public nuisance that escalate from $1,000 for a first offense to $10,000 for a third offense within a year (§ 13.01.110). A director's decision may be appealed to the board of supervisors within ten working days (§ 13.01.130).
Violations & Fines
An unauthorized discharge from a recycled-water pond, or a failure to email the regional water board within twenty-four hours of a qualifying storm-event discharge, violates § 13.01.060(D) and is enforced as a Chapter 13.01 nuisance violation: civil penalties of $1,000 for a first offense, $2,000 for a second, and up to $10,000 for each offense after that within a year, under § 13.01.110.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can a recycled-water pond in Calaveras County ever legally overflow?
What must I do if my recycled-water pond discharges during a big storm?
Who enforces the recycled-water discharge rule?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Calaveras County
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