San Clemente, CA Water Use Rules: Recycled Water Rules (2026)

Under San Clemente Municipal Code Chapter 13.44, the City can compel a property to use recycled water instead of potable water once offsite recycled water facilities reach the site. Section 13.44.040 defines two tiers: 'mandatory' uses (irrigation, commercial use, habitat development and maintenance, recreational use, groundwater recharge, impoundments and certain construction uses) that generally must convert when offsite recycled facilities are available, and 'non-mandatory' uses like roadway irrigation and industrial cooling water that convert on a case-by-case basis. Recycled water itself is defined in Section 13.44.020 as wastewater treated and disinfected to the tertiary standard set by Title 22, Division 4, Chapter 3 of the California Code of Regulations.

The conversion process runs through the Utilities Director. The City sends written notice of its preliminary determination that a property must convert; an owner who disagrees has thirty calendar days to file a written objection under Section 13.44.070, and may appeal the Utilities Director's final determination to the City Manager within sixty calendar days of that decision. If the objection or appeal succeeds, the City issues a written waiver. Absent a waiver, the owner must complete the application process in the City's Rules and Regulations for Recycled Water and obtain a User Permit before service begins.

Section 13.44.090 sets a hard compliance clock: onsite conversion work must be finished within one hundred eighty calendar days of the preliminary determination notice. Miss that window and Section 13.44.100 lets the City fine the property under Chapter 1.20 of the Municipal Code; miss three hundred sixty-five days and the City can keep fining and shut off potable water to the site entirely. Retrofitting cost falls on the owner, though the City may, at its discretion, offer a loan program under Section 13.44.110.