The Coundown Has Begun

The ban on outdoor watering begins next week!

From March 18 to 27, the F.E. Weymouth Water Treatment Plant in LaVerne will undergo a seismic retrofit, during which a major MWD water pipeline through the San Gabriel Valley that supplies about 40 percent of Pasadena's imported water will be shut down.

Everyone in Pasadena will be prohibited from doing any outdoor watering, with very few exceptions.

Beginning this Friday and through March 17, give your gardens and shrubs as much water as you like so they'll be well-saturated during the March 18 to 27 shutdown, then cover flower beds with mulch to prevent the soil from drying out.


If you have a gardener, be sure that person is aware of the watering restrictions! You don't want your gardener to unknowingly put you at risk of a citation and fine.

If you have a sprinkler system, be sure to set the timer so it's turned off from March 18 to 27.

If you don't have a sprinkler system, that doesn't mean you're off the hook! All methods of outdoor watering with city tap water, including by hand, hose, drip, manual and automatic sprinklers, will be strictly prohibited during the shutdown, at all times.

See more information, including tips and answers to frequently asked questions, here.

Ten days will pass quickly, I promise!

Oh, and don't go saying the shutdown isn't necessary since we've had a lot of rain lately. A few inches of rain has done little for our natural supply of water in Pasadena and certainly has nothing to do with 40 percent of our water supply from an outside source.

I'm just sayin'...