In August, 2008, the City of Los Angeles amended an ordinance in order to create permanent water waste prohibitions and expand mandatory conservation practices to the general public. The ordinance presents implementation to occur in three phases; the specific rules of each phase are as follows:

Phase 1
• Watering any hard outside surfaces, allowing excess water runoff into streets and gutters is prohibited

• Any leak from a water pipe or fixture must be repaired

• From 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., landscaping and watering for more than 15 minutes at a time is banned

• When washing vehicles, hoses with shut-off nozzles must be used

• Only serve water to customers in food service locations when explicitly requested

Phase 2
• All Phase 1 rules, plus
• Watering is restricted to Mondays, Thursdays, and Saturdays only

Phase 3
• All Phase 1 rules, plus
• Watering restricted to only Mondays and Thursdays only

If a resident fails to comply, they may be subject to penalties, which can range from a written warning for a first violation to monetary fines and water service shutoff for continued non-compliance.

In order to promote the listed regulations, the Department of Water and Power offers financial incentive through Residential and Business/Commercial Water Efficiency Rebates. Regarding Residential rebates, the Department installed a program to encourage the purchase of more energy-efficient clothes washers, toilets, irrigation controllers, rotating lawn nozzles, and synthetic turfs. For Business and Commercial rebates, the list includes, but is not limited to, more efficient toilets/urinals, ice machines, food steamers, spray heads, vacuum pumps, and irrigation controllers.