Ripon Drops to One Watering Day in November: What to Do
Every November Ripon cuts landscape watering from three days a week to one. It is a bigger change than it sounds, and the households that get fined in December are almost always the ones who simply forgot to reprogram.
What changes, exactly
From November through February the city drops to Saturday only. That is one watering day a week, for every address.
Compare that with summer: From March through October, even-numbered addresses water Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. Odd-numbered addresses water Wednesday, Friday and Sunday. Nobody waters Monday, and nobody waters between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m.
The 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. ban and the Monday ban stay in force year-round.
Why one day is genuinely enough
Cool-season grasses slow right down below about 50°F, and warm-season grasses like bermuda go dormant entirely and turn brown. Neither is doing much growing, so neither needs much water.
Evaporation collapses at the same time. Shorter days, weaker sun and cooler air mean water that would have vanished in six hours in July sits in the root zone for days in December.
Add winter rainfall and there are stretches where a Ripon lawn needs no supplemental water at all. Skipping your Saturday when the ground is already wet is entirely fine, and after measurable rain it is required.
Reprogram, do not just shorten
The fine schedule does not care that your Tuesday cycle was only five minutes. Wrong day is wrong day.
Go into the controller in the first week of November and remove the extra days entirely rather than trimming run times. Then set a second reminder for the first week of March to put them back.
If your controller has multiple programmes, use one for the summer schedule and one for winter, and switch between them. It turns a fiddly reprogramming job into a single button press twice a year.
Watch for the opposite problem
Overwatering in winter causes more damage in Ripon than underwatering. Saturated soil in cool weather invites root rot and fungal disease, and on lawns with any compaction it simply sits there.
If you see standing water, moss creeping in, or a persistently spongy feel underfoot, skip watering entirely for a few weeks. The lawn will be better for it.
Use the winter to fix the things water cannot
A dormant lawn is a good time for the work that actually improves next summer: aeration if the soil is compacted, top-dressing with compost, repairing sprinkler heads, and correcting low spots that pond.
Sprinkler repairs in particular are easier to do now than in July, and you go into March with a system that delivers evenly across all three of your summer days.
Frequently asked questions
What is the Ripon winter watering schedule?
From November through February, Ripon allows landscape watering on Saturday only, for all addresses. The 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. ban and the Monday ban remain in force.
Do I need to water my lawn at all in a Ripon winter?
Often not. Cool temperatures, low evaporation and winter rainfall mean a lawn may need little or no supplemental water. After measurable rainfall you are required to wait 48 hours.
Can I water on a weekday in winter if I only run it briefly?
No. The restriction is by day, not by duration. Watering on a non-permitted day is a violation regardless of how long the cycle runs.
When does Ripon switch back to three watering days?
The summer schedule runs March through October. Check the City of Ripon water conservation page each year, as the city adjusts the schedule seasonally.