Zone A · Six different water providers — see below
Irrigation repair
in Sacramento.
Sacramento is the one place on our map where the city line and the rulebook are not the same thing. Citrus Heights, Carmichael, Fair Oaks, Orangevale, Antelope and Arden are each served by a different water provider, and those providers do not publish the same schedule. A homeowner in Citrus Heights following the City of Sacramento watering days is following somebody else’s rules — and this is the most common mistake we see anywhere we work.
The rules that apply to your address
Sacramento water rules.
The City of Sacramento Department of Utilities serves the city proper. Outside it, Sacramento Suburban Water District covers Antelope, Arden and North Highlands; Citrus Heights Water District, Carmichael Water District, Fair Oaks Water District and Orange Vale Water Company each cover their own. Your bill names your provider. Nothing else reliably tells you.
March 1 through October 31: two days a week. Odd-numbered addresses Tuesday and Saturday; even-numbered addresses Wednesday and Sunday. This is a mandatory schedule, not guidance.
In the summer schedule, watering is permitted only between 7:00 p.m. and 10:00 a.m. Runoff onto sidewalks or gutters is prohibited, and sprinklers must be off during rain and for 48 hours after it stops.
November 1 through the end of February: one day a week, Saturday or Sunday, at any time of day. Most systems can simply be switched off for the season.
SSWD declared Adequate Water Supply Conditions for 2026, which assigns no mandatory days. Its recommended pattern is odd addresses Tue/Thu/Sat and even Wed/Fri/Sun. What it does enforce is a time window: watering between noon and 6:00 p.m. is prohibited at every water stage.
This is the most useful thing on this page if SSWD bills you. Its Leak Repair rebate pays up to $500, and covers “constant supply line water leaks and irrigation system leaks.” Crucially, the terms do not require a licensed contractor — a homeowner or an unlicensed operator doing the work still claims the materials; a licensed plumber additionally claims labour. So work we do here qualifies, and what you forgo is the labour portion, not the rebate. Its Irrigation Efficiency Upgrades rebate works the same way: $500 residential, and a licence only unlocks up to $150 of installation reimbursement. Compare Roseville, whose leak rebate does require a licence and where our work therefore does not qualify. Same repair, different water district, opposite answer. As of 2026 SSWD will also investigate a suspected leak free of charge — 916-972-7171 — and if that is all you need, take it.
A controller programmed to the wrong agency’s schedule is the single cheapest fault we find, and almost nobody calls about it — because nothing looks broken. Every option we sell includes setting the controller to the rule that actually governs your address.
Elsewhere on the map