Fresno, CA Water Use Rules: Recycled Water Rules (2026)
Key Facts
- Administering department
- Dept. of Public Utilities, Director
- Prerequisite for use
- Executed user agreement (§ 6-905)
- Dual-plumb trigger
- Discretionary approval in Project Area (§ 6-911)
- Construction dust control
- Recycled water required if feasible (§ 6-914)
- Connection status (general)
- Voluntary unless conditioned (§ 6-910)
- Adopted / amended
- Ord. 2014-32 (2014); Ord. 2021-026 (2021)
Summary
Fresno's Recycled Water Ordinance requires a signed user agreement before anyone can receive or use recycled water, conditions certain new developments in the Recycled Water Project Area to dual-plumb for it, and mandates recycled water for construction dust control where a fill station is reasonably close.
The purpose and intent is to provide recycled water to all service areas in the City identified in the Recycled Water Master Plan (RW Master Plan) and subsequent additions, revisions or updates of the RW Master Plan. It is the intent of the City that existing owners of property and future development, identified in the RW Master Plan as being potential users within areas designated for recycled water use, qualify for a recycled water use agreement from the City in accordance with this Recycled Water Ordinance. ... Any person applying for a construction permit for a project that includes dust control activities is required to use recycled water for those activities within the Recycled Water Project Area, if feasible based on the project's proximity to a recycled water fill station.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: Code of Ordinances: Supplement 54).
Full Breakdown
Adopted by Ord. 2014-32 (2014) and amended by Ord. 2021-026 (2021), Chapter 6, Article 9 is administered by the Director of the Department of Public Utilities (Sec. 6-904). No recycled water may be delivered, used, or discharged on any property, including city-owned property, without an executed user agreement (Sec. 6-905), and users must designate a Recycled Water Site Supervisor responsible for their on-site system (Sec. 6-906). Applicants apply through the Department of Public Utilities (Sec. 6-907); pricing is set in the user agreement itself rather than a fixed code rate (Sec.
6-908), and the Director may offer incentives to encourage adoption (Sec. 6-909). Connection is generally voluntary for properties in the Recycled Water Project Area (Sec. 6-910), but Sec. 6-911 lets the city condition discretionary approvals, tentative maps, conditional use permits, development permits, variances, on dual plumbing for commercial, industrial, institutional, and governmental projects, apartment/condo projects, and common-area irrigation in new single-family subdivisions, when the property sits in an existing or proposed Project Area. Sec. 6-914 separately requires any construction permit applicant whose project includes dust control activities to use recycled water for that purpose within the Project Area if feasible given the site's distance from a fill station.
Existing potable customers in the Project Area may voluntarily retrofit to recycled water (Sec. 6-913), and the Director maintains detailed Recycled Water Rules and Regulations layering in Title 17/22 CCR standards (Sec. 6-915).
Violations & Fines
Sec. 6-916 makes any owner or operator who violates the Recycled Water Ordinance subject, for each day of violation, to penalties under Chapter 1, Article 3 of the Municipal Code: the city's general code-enforcement track, which tops out at a $1,000 fine and/or six months in county jail per day for a misdemeanor, or an administrative citation under Sec. 1-308.
Frequently Asked Questions
Am I required to connect my Fresno property to recycled water?
Does a construction project have to use recycled water for dust control?
What happens if I use recycled water without a signed agreement?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Fresno
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Recycled Water Rules in Nearby Cities
How other cities in Fresno County handle recycled water rules.