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WateringTimes

East Bay Municipal Utility District (EBMUD)

East Bay (EBMUD) Watering Schedule

No set daysRules verified August 25, 2026

Any day is allowed. These rules apply year-round

  • No watering during rain or within 48 hours after measurable rainfall.
  • No more than incidental runoff onto hardscapes, adjacent property or non-irrigated areas.
  • No washing sidewalks or driveways except as needed for health and safety.
  • Vehicle washing needs a hose with a shut-off nozzle; fountains must recirculate.
  • Recommended, not required: water before dawn or at dusk, and not on consecutive days.

EBMUD does not assign watering days: no odd/even rule, no days-per-week cap, and no hour windows apply in the East Bay. Instead, its permanent Section 29 rules ban wasteful conduct year-round, including watering during or within 48 hours after measurable rainfall and more than incidental runoff onto hardscapes or adjacent property. The district recommends, but does not require, irrigating before dawn or at dusk and not on consecutive days. No drought stage was declared as of August 2026, so only the permanent rules apply.

How many minutes on each watering day

East Bay Municipal Utility District (EBMUD) assigns no watering days, so nobody can tell you how many days to split the week across. Set the days you actually water and this works out the minutes from Oakland's climate for the month you pick.

Climate data

Oakland · 41.8 in/yr

About 29 minutes per watering day, 2 days a week.

How that was worked out

Week's climate demand: 5.9 in for July × 7 ÷ 31 days = 1.332 in

Plants need: 1.332 × 0.8 = 1.066 in this week

Run time: 1.066 ÷ (1.6 in/hr × 0.7) × 60 = 57 min per week

Split: 57 ÷ 2 watering days = 29 min each time

If water runs off the edges before the cycle ends, split each day into shorter back-to-back cycles with a soak break between them. The total minutes stay the same.

Rain is not subtracted here. Skip watering during and after rain, and follow your supplier's rain rule. Point-source drip emitters and Bubblers are not in the list above: no manufacturer publishes an inches-per-hour rate for them, so those zones are watered by volume rather than by a run time against a rate.

Want the full method, the nozzle rate tables and their sources? Open the run time calculator.

Current status

No drought stage declared as of Aug 2026 (normal supply); permanent Section 29 "Water Use Restrictions" in effect year-round (current version effective 07/01/26, Resolution 35501-26). EBMUD's Water Shortage Contingency Plan uses numbered drought stages (Stage 2 = significant, Stage 3 = severe, Stage 4 = critical shortage); none is active.

The schedule

Year-round

No seasonal date ranges printed; Section 29 applies year-round (current version effective 07/01/26)

Days: No assigned watering days, no odd/even rule, no days-per-week cap. EBMUD bans wasteful conduct only. Non-binding guideline in Section 29: most customers can cut outdoor watering 'by irrigating before dawn or at dusk, and not on consecutive days.'

Hours: No time-of-day restriction. 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.

Run-time limits: None stated. No per-station minute limits by nozzle type anywhere in Section 29 or on EBMUD conservation pages. (Recommendation only, from WaterSmart Gardener page: cycle-and-soak, e.g. 'three, 5-minute run times with an hour in between each' instead of one 15-minute run.)

Exceptions and standing rules

  • Blanket carve-out (Section 29.A preamble): 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'
  • Vehicle washing allowed with a hose 'fitted with a shut-off nozzle or device attached to it that causes it to cease dispensing water immediately when not in use'
  • Ornamental fountains/decorative water features allowed 'where the water is part of a recirculating system'
  • Sidewalk/driveway/hardscape washing: prohibition does not apply where needed for health and safety (per the preamble); the report-water-waste page phrases it as 'except as needed for health and safety purposes'
  • Construction, soil compaction and dust control water allowed only with an EBMUD-issued permit (and only if no feasible alternative source exists)
  • 'Trees and other non-turf vegetation within street medians may continue to be watered efficiently' (Section 29.A.4.f)
  • Written exception applications accepted by the Manager of Water Conservation; grounds: (a) 'unnecessary and undue hardship... including adverse economic impacts, such as loss of production or jobs' or (b) condition 'affecting the health, sanitation, fire protection or safety of the applicant or the public'; denials appealable to the Director of Customer and Community Services (Section 29.B)
  • Note: because EBMUD sets no watering days, there are no drip/hand-watering/new-planting/edibles/pots/hot-day/smart-controller day-limit exemptions to list - such categories exist only where day limits exist

Fines and enforcement

  1. Section 29 enforcement (always in effect) carries NO dollar fines. Escalation: (1) one written warning; (2) District may order special meter reading(s) and follow-up staff visits, charges billed to the customer at Board-fixed rates; (3) after a written warning, installation of a flow-restricting device on the service line for willful violations (charges billed to customer); (4) on further willful violation, discontinuation of service (restoration charges billed to customer).
  2. Ordinance No. 373-21 'Excessive Water Use Penalty Ordinance' (adopted 09/28/2021) - DORMANT, applies 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 pay 'a civil administrative penalty of two dollars ($2.00) per CCF, or portion thereof' over the cap (1 CCF = 748 gal). Caps: Stage 2 = 66 CCF per ~1-month or 132 CCF per ~2-month billing cycle; Stage 3 = 59/118 CCF; Stage 4 = 40/80 CCF. First exceedance in a drought cycle is exempt (written notice only). No penalties for commercial/industrial or master-metered multifamily. None of these penalties is active as of Aug 2026.
  3. Caution: a '$25 per day' fine circulating on aggregator sites does not appear in any EBMUD document reviewed and should not be published.

Report water waste: Online form at ebmud.com/water/conservation-and-rebates/report-water-waste (violation categories include broken irrigation equipment, irrigation runoff, washing hardscapes, hose without shutoff nozzle, watering during/within 48 hours of rain, irrigating lawn in street medians); phone 1-866-403-2683; email [email protected]

Is this your water supplier?

Contra Costa Water District (Concord/Martinez/eastern Contra Costa), Dublin San Ramon Services District & Zone 7 (Dougherty Valley part of San Ramon, Tri-Valley), Alameda County Water District (Fremont/Newark/Union City), City of Hayward, and SFPUC (San Francisco) border EBMUD; Richmond, San Ramon, and Pleasant Hill are split between suppliers, so check your bill.

Turf rebate from the same agency

East Bay Municipal Utility District also pays by the square foot to take lawn out: $1.00/sq ft, or $2.00/sq ft with the Super Rebate. The money is reserved before any digging starts, so the order of the steps matters more than the rate.

Program: Lawn Conversion Rebate (part of EBMUD's Landscape Rebate Program)

EBMUD (East Bay) turf rebate

Questions people ask

What days can I water in the East Bay (EBMUD)?
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.
What hours can sprinklers run?
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.
What is actually banned year-round?
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.
What is exempt from the rules?
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.
What is the fine for breaking the watering rules?
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.
What happens during a declared drought?
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.
Can I water when it rains?
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.
My city is in the East Bay but my bill is not from EBMUD. Why?
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.
How do I report water waste to EBMUD?
Use the online form at ebmud.com/water/conservation-and-rebates/report-water-waste, call 1-866-403-2683, or email [email protected]. 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.

Sources

WateringTimes is an informational gardening and landscape reference for California. Watering numbers are estimates computed from public state data. Nothing on this site is regulatory or professional advice of any kind. Check your water supplier’s current rules before relying on any schedule.