LADWP relaxes outdoor watering restrictions

After observing two-days-a-week outdoor watering restrictions for the past thirteen months, all Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) customers can begin watering their outdoor landscapes for up to three-days-a-week with the return to the City’s Phase 2 Emergency Water Conservation Ordinance (Ordinance), effective July 27, 2023. LADWP customers had previously been under the less restrictive, three-days-a-week watering ordinance since 2009, before the historic three-year-drought triggered a statewide water emergency last year. LADWP responded to that emergency, and to limits on water supply deliveries from the Bay Delta and the Colorado River that makes up portion of its water supply, by moving customers to two-days-a-week watering on June 1, 2022.

After experiencing a record snowpack created by the unprecedented amount of precipitation earlier this year, the Mayor and City Council have approved LADWP’s recommendation to revert back to three-days-a-week outdoor watering.

“We want to thank our customers for continuing to lead on conservation and helping us exceed our water conservation goals,” said Anselmo Collins, LADWP Senior Assistant General Manager of the Water System. “Over the past year, Angelenos reduced their water use an additional 10%, which is a remarkable achievement considering this was on top of the substantial long-term water conservation our customers had already achieved.”

The return to three-days-a-week watering means customers with street addresses ending in odd-numbers may water on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays and customers with even-numbered street addresses may water on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays, before 9 a.m. or after 4 p.m., when the evaporation rate is appreciably lower than during the middle of the day.

Hand watering is allowed every day before 9 a.m. and after 4 p.m. if the hose is equipped with a self-closing water shut-off device.

The following water conservation practices continue to be in place under Phase 2. They include:

• Limiting outdoor watering with sprinklers to eight minutes per station on permitted watering days
• Watering with sprinklers using water-conserving nozzles are permitted for up to 15 minutes, twice a day, on the permitted watering day
• No water should flow off of your property
• No water should leak from any pipe or fixture
• No watering within 48 hours after a measurable rain event
• No hosing of driveway or sidewalk
• No washing of vehicles using a hose without a self-closing nozzle

Customers can visit ladwp.com/wateringdays to learn more about current watering restrictions.

LADWP’s Water Conservation Response Unit (Water CRU) will continue to patrol the streets of Los Angeles to educate Angelenos on the days of the week watering restrictions and to enforce the Ordinance. Members of the public can report water waste to the Water CRU by visiting ladwp.com/waterwaste and filling out a form online.