Carlsbad, CA Water Use Rules: Recycled Water Rules (2026)

08 in 2005 (Ord. 43) to promote recycled water use given San Diego County's dependence on imported supplies. 040, the District maintains a Water Reclamation Master Plan, updated at least every five years, that designates recycled water service areas and can mandate recycled water for greenbelt irrigation, agricultural irrigation, commercial office buildings, artificial lakes and industrial processes as a condition of development approval or continued water service. 050(B) requires staff to review any tentative map, subdivision map, land use permit or Government Code Section 65928 development application against the Master Plan; if the parcel sits in a designated service area, recycled water infrastructure can be made a condition of approval.

Multifamily, commercial or industrial remodels are reviewed case by case for the same requirement. 050(A) and must submit a plan of implementation to the District's Executive Manager within 90 days, which the District has 30 days to approve; construction must then finish within six months, or the customer may appeal to the CMWD Board of Directors for more time. Customers may object in writing within 30 days of the conversion notice. Before service begins, a District specialist runs a coverage test and a 24-hour cross-connection test, and the site supervisor must attend San Diego County Water Authority recycled-water training.

060 lets the District restrict or prohibit sewer discharges from a tributary area serving a reclamation facility after a noticed public hearing, if the discharge could damage the treatment plant or recycled-water users.