Water Rationing: L.A.'s New Water Conservation Plan Takes Effect

The new plan allows residents to water on specific days, according to even and odd-numbered addresses.

LOS ANGELES -- Residents in the City of Los Angeles can now water their lawns and gardens up to three days a week instead of two. The city's new water conservation ordinance takes effect Wednesday.

Customers whose street addresses end with an odd number - 1, 3, 5, 7 or 9 - are permitted to use their sprinkler systems on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Customers whose addresses end in even numbers - 0, 2, 4, 6, or 8 are permitted to do so on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays. Addresses ending in fractions are treated as whole numbers and observe the same day restrictions as others on their same side of the street, (ie: 4321 ½ is regarded as 4321, an odd-numbered address.)

Time limits are in place based on the type of nozzle used.

Non-conserving spray head sprinklers and bubblers, which are common in most landscapes, are allowed up to 8 minutes per watering station per day.

Rotors and multi-stream rotary heads are allowed 15 minutes per cycle and up to two cycles per day per watering station. Watering with sprinklers is restricted to hours before 9:00 a.m. and after 4:00 p.m., regardless of the watering day.

All other prohibited uses of water remain in effect.