Conservation

The City’s Water Conservation Program team works with residents, business owners, school officials, teachers, and the public at large to educate them about the need to conserve our City's most precious natural resource - water!

Chino Hills customers have made great progress in becoming water efficient. While water use reduction is great news, the fact remains that as a City we will continue to focus on doing all we can to encourage conservation.

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Stage II Moderate Conservation Alert

In response to the intermission on the drought conditions in the State of California, the Chino Hills City Council rolled back the Water Conservation alert status to a Stage II Moderate Conservation Alert effective immediately after their Council action on May 9, 2023.  The Stage II Moderate Conservation Alert still prohibits wasteful practices and encourages conservation in accordance with the Chino Hills Municipal Code. 

We strongly encourage customers to remain focused on becoming more water-efficient and to continue to do everything they can to conserve water. Your outdoor watering days and times are designated. To learn more about your watering days and the City's Stage II Moderate Conservation Alert, click here.

Many Ways the City Encourages Water Conservation

  • Actively reaches out to residents by partnering with the Inland Empire Utility Agency (IEUA) to offer residents a free Irrigation Tune-Up, Sprinkler Timer Upgrade, or Residential Landscape Retrofit as well as a free Landscape Evaluation and Audit Program.
  • Continues to encourage and assist our residents in applying for turf removal rebates to make water conservation a way of life and created a guide to help residential and commercial customers navigate the rebate process.
  • Completed 28 turf removal projects in the last four years, converting 14.5 acres of City property to water-saving landscape that has reduced water consumption by approximately 26.7 million gallons each year. Completed seven additional turf replacement projects over the last year which removed 84,000 square feet of turf resulting in 3.5 million gallons of annual water savings. These projects provide our residents with examples of water-saving landscape design.
  • Averaged 13.4 million gallons in savings per year through IEUA programs from FY 16/17-19/20 (per IEUA Water Use Efficiency Programs Report).
  • Created easy online applications for the IEUA regional programs to assist our residents in becoming more water-efficient.
  • Partnered with the Chino Basin Water Conservation District to audit the City parks.
  • Increased rebate levels for the High-Efficiency Clothes Washer.
  • Continued enforcement of the current Stage III High Drought Ordinance by City staff.
  • Invested in recycled water distribution at great expense, so that now the Recycled Water usage in the City is 1,668 acre-feet for FY 2020-21.
  • Started a gift bag delivery program for residents who completed a water conservation program to recognize and thank them for their efforts.

The City takes conservation seriously and doesn’t just expect others to do their part. We work hard to conserve water as well. 

In fact, the City has decreased its potable water use over the last six years by 12% even though the City’s population increased by 10% during that same time period. The City used 15,858 acre-feet of potable water in Fiscal Year 2013-14 with a population of 74,799 as compared to the Fiscal Year 2020-21 when the City used 13,884 acre-feet with a population of 82,661. This impressive reduction in usage is due to the City’s extensive water conservation efforts and by replacing the use of potable water for irrigation in many locations with the use of recycled water.

City of Chino Hills Facilities Annual Water Usage

City of Chino Hills Facilities Annual Water Usage in Acre-Feet
Fiscal YearPotableRecycledTotal
2020-219563171273

Annual Design-A-Sign Poster Contest

Every Spring, the City has a Water Conservation Design-A-Sign Poster Contest. Students who live in or attend a school in the City are encouraged to use their art skills to create a poster that depicts a selected Water Conservation theme. Winning posters are made into street signs and placed throughout the City.

View the Gallery of Yearly Water Conservation Poster Contest Winners