Watering rules near Fairfield and Napaby city
Eco Scapes·Published ·Updated
The short answer
Each town’s water provider sets its own rules. Napa bans watering from 10 am to 5 pm, and Fairfield asks you to skip noon to 6 pm. 4 of our 6 towns also ban watering for 48 hours after rain, and 5 bar water running into the street. Water between 6 pm and 10 am and you’re clear of every posted hour limit.
Find your town below.
When can I water in my town?
Pick your town, then turn the hand round the clock. The ring is one day, midnight at the top.
FairfieldCity of Fairfield
Skip noon to 6 pm; midnight to 6 am is best
Lawn swap rebate$1.50/sq ft, up to $1,500
From 6 pm to 10 am you’re clear of every hour limit we found in all 6 towns.
All six towns at a glance
| Town | When to water | Lawn swap rebate |
|---|---|---|
| FairfieldSolano · Checked Sep 2026 | Skip noon to 6 pm; midnight to 6 am is best | $1.50/sq ft, up to $1,500 |
| VacavilleSolano · Checked Sep 2026 | Stage 2: the city asks you to water on your ZIP code’s three days, 6 pm to 10 am | $1.50/sq ft, up to $1,500 |
| VallejoSolano · Checked Sep 2026 | Any day, any hour; no runoff | $1.50/sq ft, up to $1,500 |
| NapaNapa · Checked Sep 2026 | No watering 10 am to 5 pm | $2/sq ft, up to $2,000 |
| American CanyonNapa · Checked Sep 2026 | No set hours unless the city declares a drought stage | $1/sq ft, up to $750 |
Rebates are paid while funds last. Apply before you touch the lawn.
What breaks the rules even at the right hour?
Runoff is restricted by the providers shown here, even during permitted watering hours.
Clay drinks slowly, so one long run puddles and heads for the gutter. Shorter cycles with a break between them fix it. A smart controller does that zone by zone, and skips watering after rain by itself.
A broken head does the same, at 4 am when nobody sees it. When we take on a system, every zone gets run and checked, leaks get fixed and the controller is set to your water provider’s hours.
One long run
Short cycles, an hour apart
…checked our sprinklers and found a broken one we didn't know about
…even programmed a weekly schedule for our lawn to be watered
Rebates pay, in the right order.
Some water providers offer lawn-conversion or smart-controller rebates. Start with the provider on your water bill, then check the program for that account.
Neighborhoods such as Elmira, Suisun Valley, Green Valley and Silverado may use a different provider from the nearby city. The city examples above apply only to that provider’s customers. Confirm your property’s rules and eligibility before changing the schedule or planning a rebate.
Get approval first: nearly every program here signs off on the project before the lawn comes out. Each one’s rules are in lawn and irrigation rebates by city.
You apply to your provider. We design and install the drip and the zones, and set the controller to the program’s rules.
Before you change your schedule
No.
California’s turf law covers businesses, government sites and HOA common areas, not your own yard. Vacaville says it plainly: “This ban does not apply to residential properties.” Keeping your lawn healthy is a lawn care question.
Not outright.
State law stops an HOA from banning low-water plants. It can still ask to approve visible changes, so get the plan approved before work starts.
You can be fined.
Water providers can enforce their water-waste rules, including runoff and watering outside permitted hours. Confirm the current requirements for the provider on your water bill, then set the controller to match.
Change the schedule to match the current rules.
Check the water provider named on your bill before changing a schedule. Separate lawn and planting-bed zones let you adjust each part of the yard without giving every plant the same watering time.
Each provider names its own.
SCWA lists WaterSense-labeled, weather-based controller rebates, and Napa lists a Rachio offer. Check with your provider before you buy, or ask us when we quote the work.
Your provider’s hours, set right.
Call to discuss your controller settings and your water provider’s watering hours.
Call for a quote(707) 329-8391
