Drought Restrictions

On March 28, 2022, following the driest first three months of a year in the state’s recorded history, Governor Gavin Newsom took steps to drive water conservation at the local level, calling on local water suppliers to take locally-appropriate actions that will conserve water across all sectors.

As a result, San Dieguito Water District has enacted the following reduction measures in addition to the Level 1 Voluntary Measures implemented by the SDWD Board of Directors on October 20, 2021.

Additional Conservation Actions

Stop using potable water to irrigate non-functional turf on Commercial, Industrial, and Institutional sites

• “Non-functional turf” is turf that is not regularly used for human recreational purposes, community events, or sports.
• Limit landscape irrigation to 3 assigned days per week
  • Odd-numbered addresses can irrigate on Sundays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays
  • Even-numbered addresses can irrigate on Saturdays, Mondays, and Wednesdays
• Limit landscape irrigation to no more than 10 minutes per water station per assigned day
• Only irrigate landscape areas before 10 a.m. and after 6 p.m. to limit effects of evaporation
• Customers must repair all leaks within 72 hours of detection or notification

Level 1 Voluntary Measures

• Stop washing down paved and hard surfaces, such as sidewalks, driveways, and parking lots with potable water, except when necessary to alleviate safety or sanitation hazards
• Stop water waste resulting from inefficient landscape irrigation, such as runoff, overspray, etc.
• Use a bucket, watering can, hand-held hose with positive shut-off nozzle, or low-volume non-spray irrigation to water landscaped areas or wash cars
• Only irrigate landscape areas before 10 a.m. and after 6 p.m. to limit effects of evaporation
• Stop irrigating landscapes within 48 hours of measurable rainfall
• Serve and refill water in restaurants and food service establishments only upon request
• Offer guests in lodging establishments the option of not laundering towels and linens daily
• Customers must repair all leaks within 5 days of detection or notification
• Use recycled or non-potable water for construction purposes when feasible
• Stop operation of decorative or ornamental fountains unless re-circulated or recycled water is used

San Dieguito Water District remains in Level 1 of its Water Supply Shortage Response Program.

For information on water conservation programs, rebates and incentives, workshops, free water-use evaluations, and landscape care, visit the San Dieguito Water District’s Conservation Page.  Please visit the Irrigation Maintenance and Landscape Care Page for HOA laws and prohibitions in relation to water efficient landscapes.

Irrigation Update 

The community is dealing with several issues related to irrigation of our common areas including the parkways along the streets. One issue has to do with lower water pressure coming from the recycled water line supplying water to the South Mesa. This has resulted in some of the street parkways looking brown or appearing like they are being underwatered.

The second issues has to do with supply problems for rebuilding parts of the irrigation system. We have over 36,000 sprinkler heads in the entire community and BrightView is rebuilding sections of our irrigation system in order to get better coverage of common areas and optimize our water usage. This is being held up due to a lack of parts necessary to rebuild the sprinklers. The work is progressing albeit at a slower pace so we need to exercise some patience as BrightView works to obtain the necessary parts in a more timely manner.