No Outdoor Watering - September 6 - September 20 - Emergency Repair to Upper Feeder Pipeline 

9/19/2022 Update: The Metropolitan Water District (MWD) pipeline repairs are completed ahead of schedule! Thank you Bell Gardens for conserving water during the repairs! Bell Gardens can resume watering outdoors as follows through October: Even numbered address - Wednesdays and Sundays only; Odd numbered address- Tuesdays and Saturdays  only. Thank you for doing your part! For more information, visit www.bellgardens.org/waterconservation

Starting Tuesday, Sept. 6 , residents and businesses in portions of greater Los Angeles County (including Bell Gardens) are asked to to suspend outdoor watering for 15 days (through September 20) as a critical imported water pipeline is shut down for emergency repairs, through Metropolitan Water District.

Below are tips on how residents and businesses can prepare their landscaping for no watering Sept. 6-20 – ensuring it will thrive again once the shutdown is complete – and what to do indoors to reduce water usage.

PRIOR TO SHUTDOWN
General Landscaping
• Delay new plantings until after Sept. 20.
• Avoid fertilizing lawns and plants prior to the shutdown.
• Weed your garden to help make more water available for your plants.
• Set your sprinkler timer to the “OFF” position on the evening of Sept. 5.

Lawns
• Aerate your lawn and add compost two weeks prior to the shutdown.
• Set mowers for a higher cut or avoid mowing. Longer grass helps reduce evaporation. 
• Do a normal watering of your lawn according to your agency’s watering schedule.

Shrubs/Flowers/Ground Covers
• Water deeply and early the morning of Monday, Sept. 5, or on the last day hand watering is allowed in your community before the shutdown.
• Add mulch around your plants three inches from the stem. Do not irrigate mulch, pull it away while watering then put back into place
• Shade your plants where possible with sun cloth, canopy tents or umbrellas.
• Water succulents and other desert plants as normal. Overwatering could harm them. 

Trees
• On Monday, Sept. 5, or on the last day hand watering is allowed in your community before the shutdown, deep-water your trees and shrubs by hand watering, setting soaker hoses or watering with a regular hose on a slow trickle. Water until soil is soaked to a depth of 8-12 inches.
• Surround the tree with mulch before watering for added moisture retention. Make sure the mulch is three inches from the trunk.

DURING THE SHUTDOWN (Sept. 6-20)
Outdoors
• Eliminate all outdoor watering.
• Remember, two weeks of no watering will not kill your lawn. Though you will see a noticeable yellowing, it will green up once your normal watering schedule resumes
• Do not mow your lawn. Minimize the use of your lawn for playing, parking vehicles.

Indoors
• Put a bucket in your shower to collect water as the shower warms up. Use for houseplants, sensitive outdoor plants and areas of the lawn that may show excessive stress (hot spots).
• Take short showers (5-minute max).
• Do not leave water running when washing dishes. Fill a small bin or bucket with water to wash your dishes in. When you’re done, use that water for trees and grass. 

For more information, please visit mwdh2o.com/shutdown

Click here to download the Upper Feeder Shutdown Fact Sheet.