Tesoro Viejo HOA Guide: County Rules and the Water Company

Water utility service in Tesoro Viejo is provided by the Tesoro Viejo Master Mutual Water Company. Cal Water’s district page says Cal Water operates and maintains the water, wastewater, recycled water, storm water and agricultural water systems on the company’s behalf, and handles customer service through its Selma customer center by phone or email. There is no in-person counter.

Cal Water began delivering recycled water to the company in 2021, for community landscaping and farm irrigation. If your association irrigates common areas, ask which meters are on recycled water and which are on drinking water. That will matter for the 2029 turf rule below.

The company’s board adopts the rates by resolution, and Cal Water labels the rate sheet unregulated. The resolution adopted December 24, 2024 bills monthly:

The Tesoro Viejo Master Mutual Water Company’s board adopted its watering schedule as Resolution No. 21-01, effective May 3, 2021. Cal Water still posts it on the district page:

Two rules apply all year to every address. All outside water use is prohibited every day between 10 a.m. and 7 p.m., and outside water use is not allowed at all on Mondays.

Common-area controllers have to follow the same schedule. Write the allowed days and hours into your landscape contract, and check which address each controller is billed under.

A state law passed in 2023 (AB 1572) bars the use of drinking water on nonfunctional turf in HOA common areas starting January 1, 2029. On owners’ own lots, Civil Code section 4735 prevents an association from banning low-water plants or artificial turf.

Madera County Public Works runs many small special districts that pay for local services in unincorporated areas. Its June 10, 2024 memos on the 2024-25 budgets list Service Area 22E, Tesoro Viejo, in both the special district budgets and the special district road budgets.

Public Works says its special districts operate as enterprise funds that should not be supplemented by the County’s General Fund. We could not open the budget pages that describe what Service Area 22E pays for or charges, so this guide does not list them.

We also did not find an official list of community facilities districts (Mello-Roos) covering Tesoro Viejo. Check the direct charges on a Tesoro Viejo property tax bill and the disclosures from the original purchase to see what applies. Before you take on maintenance of a street, slope or park, confirm in writing whether it belongs to the association or to a County district.

Tesoro Viejo is not a city, so County of Madera rules apply. When we checked, the County Planning Division’s page said Madera County currently has minimal regulations governing short-term vacation rentals. It listed revised drafts of a new ordinance dated May 7, 2025, July 23, 2025 and January 30, 2026. It did not show the ordinance as adopted.

One rule already applies. The County Treasurer-Tax Collector says anyone operating a short-term rental needs a business license and a transient occupancy tax certificate, with a separate application for each property. Operators must file a quarterly tax return even in a quarter with no rental income.

The draft ordinance posted on the County’s page would add these rules. They are proposals, not law, until the Board of Supervisors adopts them:

That last point matters to boards. If it is adopted as drafted, a County permit for a home in your community would depend on your association’s authorization, and your association would carry the enforcement. Decide your position before owners start asking. Separately, California Civil Code section 4741 does not stop an association from prohibiting rentals of 30 days or less.

The County’s Building Division offers pre-approved ADU plans to owners in unincorporated areas, in four sizes: 375, 550, 775 and 908 square feet. Its ADU page also posts a how-to guide and the building permit application. We could not open the County Code’s ADU standards, so check sizes, setbacks and utility connections with the County before you rely on any answer.

In Tesoro Viejo, ask the water company through Cal Water early about water and sewer service for a new unit.

Civil Code section 4751 makes void any rule in your governing documents that effectively prohibits or unreasonably restricts building an ADU or junior ADU on a single-family lot. Reasonable rules, such as design standards, are still allowed. If owners can use a pre-approved County plan, make sure your architectural review process can handle the request quickly.

The Madera County Fire Department serves the 2,153 square miles of unincorporated Madera County. The County says the department is administered, and its career staff provided, through a contract with CAL FIRE. It has 14 fire stations. Its fire prevention program includes fire code enforcement.

The State Fire Marshal’s fire hazard severity zone maps for State Responsibility Areas took effect April 1, 2024. Maps for Local Responsibility Areas were released in phases in February and March 2025. The zones are moderate, high and very high. We could not confirm the zone for Tesoro Viejo addresses, so look up each common-area address in the State Fire Marshal’s map viewer, especially open space and edges next to undeveloped land.

CAL FIRE’s defensible space guidance covers up to 100 feet around a building, in three zones. It says Zones 1 and 2 are required by law, and that local rules may be stricter:

When a home in a high or very high zone is sold, state law can require the seller to give the buyer documentation of defensible space compliance, or to sign an agreement for the buyer to get it, depending on whether the local agency has an inspection ordinance or offers inspections (Civil Code section 1102.19).

We could not find a County weed abatement or hazardous vegetation page, so this guide does not describe County inspection dates or abatement notices. Ask County Fire Prevention before fire season.

Unincorporated Madera County has two exclusive franchise haulers, split by elevation. Red Rock Environmental Group serves the Valley Area, below 1,000 feet. Emadco Disposal serves the Mountain Area, above 1,000 feet. The County’s Waste Collection Service Look-up Tool shows which hauler serves an address.

The County says businesses and multifamily properties with five or more units must have an organic recycling program (AB 1826). Its SB 1383 page says all property owners in the County’s SB 1383 compliance area must comply starting July 1, 2025. Owners can subscribe to organics collection, self-haul food waste or manage it on site. Residential property owners do not qualify for waivers.

If you subscribe, you must use the hauler’s containers. Food scraps, yard waste and food-soiled paper go in the green container. Plastic bags and compostable plastics do not.