East Bay (EBMUD) watering schedule 2026

Any day. EBMUD assigns no watering days, no odd/even rule, and no days-per-week cap. Its permanent Section 29 rules ban wasteful conduct instead, and the district recommends, but does not require, irrigating before dawn or at dusk and not on consecutive days.

There is no time-of-day restriction in EBMUD territory. The only timing rule involves rain: watering outdoor landscapes with potable water is prohibited during and within 48 hours after measurable rainfall.

Runoff onto adjacent property, non-irrigated areas, or hardscapes beyond more than incidental is prohibited at any time, as is watering during or within 48 hours after measurable rainfall. Washing sidewalks and driveways is banned except as needed for health and safety, vehicle washing requires a hose fitted with a shut-off nozzle, decorative fountains are allowed only with a recirculating system, and construction or dust-control water needs an EBMUD-issued permit.

The rules do not apply where necessary to address an immediate health and safety need or to comply with a term or condition in a permit issued by a state or federal agency. Trees and other non-turf vegetation within street medians can continue to be watered efficiently. Customers can also apply in writing to the Manager of Water Conservation for an exception based on hardship or on health, sanitation, fire protection or safety, with denials appealable to the Director of Customer and Community Services.

There is no dollar fine under Section 29. Enforcement escalates instead: one written warning first, then special meter readings and follow-up staff visits billed to the customer, then a flow-restricting device on the service line for willful violations after a written warning, and finally discontinuation of service with restoration charges billed to the customer. A $25 per day figure circulating on some websites does not appear in any EBMUD document.

A dormant ordinance, No. 373-21, activates only after the Board declares drought Stage 2, 3 or 4 or a State-proclaimed local drought. Single-family residential customers exceeding the usage cap then pay a civil administrative penalty of two dollars ($2.00) per CCF, or portion thereof, over the cap (1 CCF = 748 gal); the caps are 66 CCF per roughly one-month billing cycle at Stage 2, 59 CCF at Stage 3, and 40 CCF at Stage 4, with two-month cycles at 132, 118 and 80 CCF. The first exceedance in a drought cycle brings a written notice only, and there are no penalties for commercial, industrial, or master-metered multifamily customers. None of these penalties is active as of August 2026.

No. Watering outdoor landscapes with potable water is prohibited during and within 48 hours after measurable rainfall. This rule applies year-round and is one of the violation categories on EBMUD's water-waste report form.

Several suppliers border EBMUD: Contra Costa Water District (Concord, Martinez and eastern Contra Costa), Dublin San Ramon Services District and Zone 7 in the Tri-Valley, Alameda County Water District (Fremont, Newark, Union City), the City of Hayward, and SFPUC in San Francisco. Richmond, San Ramon and Pleasant Hill are split between suppliers, so check the supplier named on your water bill.

Use the online form at ebmud.com/water/conservation-and-rebates/report-water-waste, call 1-866-403-2683, or email waterconservation@ebmud.com. The form's violation categories include broken irrigation equipment, irrigation runoff, washing hardscapes, a hose without a shutoff nozzle, watering during or within 48 hours of rain, and irrigating lawn in street medians.