Water Conservation
FREE Irrigation Review
Citrus Heights Water District has adopted a Stage 2 - Water Alert. The past two years have yielded lower than expected runoff from the snow pack, resulting in much lower than normal reservoir levels at the beginning of this year's water year. In addition, this year's snow pack has yielded very little runoff due to water being absorbed by parched soils, cold dry conditions and wind. Under these conditions, water skips from ice directly to evaporation as water vapor when the snow pack melts, yielding much lower levels of water runoff than is needed to replenish reservoirs. The District's Board of Directors adopts a Water Conservation Stage based upon anticipated water supply availability. A complete list of the District's Water Conservation Stages and mandatory requirements for each Stage is available for review by clicking here.
The District expects to have enough water to meet reasonable needs; however, we ask our customers to continue to use water wisely and to make good water conservation habits a way of life. Even in years with normal rainfall, water in our region is a precious resource that is always in limited supply. There is never enough water to allow waste!
 Water Conservation Stages
Water Efficiency Regulations for the Stage 2 - Water Alert are:
• Reduce landscape and pasture irrigation by five to 10 percent. Customers with "smart" irrigation timers or controllers are asked to set their controllers to achieve 90 to 95 percent of the evapotranspiration (ET) rate. Drip irrigation systems are excluded from this requirement.
• Reduce indoor water use by five to 10 percent.
• Water shall be used for beneficial purposes only; all unnecessary and wasteful uses of water are prohibited.
• Water shall be confined to the customer's property and shall not be allowed to run-off to adjoining properties or to the roadside ditch or gutter.
• Free-flowing hoses for all uses are prohibited. Automatic shut-off devices shall be attached on any hose or filling apparatus in use.
• Leaking customer pipes or faulty sprinklers shall be repaired within five (5) working days or less if warranted by the severity of the problem.
• All pools, spas, ornamental fountains and ponds shall be equipped with a recirculating pump and shall be constructed to be leak-proof. Pool draining and refilling shall be allowed only for health, maintenance, or structural considerations.
• Washing streets, parking lots, driveways, sidewalks, or buildings, except as necessary for health, esthetic of sanitary purposes, is prohibited.
Although not specifically required under Stage 2 rules, the District recommends landscape and pasture irrigation be done between the hours of midnight and 10 a.m. Setting your automatic sprinkler system timer to operate within these hours will help to minimize water loss through evapo ration. Customers can also obtain information about efficient outdoor irrigation by connecting to the California Irrigation Management Information System (CIMIS). A local CIMIS weather station tracks local temperatures, winds and other factors affecting outdoor water use and provides a daily optimum irrigation schedule. For further information, click here. For additional information about water conservation, please contact the District at
(916) 725-6873 or email our Water Conservation Department.
Visit the following links for more water conservation information and tips.
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