Rain Closure Policy
It is always the City's goal to provide high quality and safe fields. Unfortunately, some conditions require the City to close fields for short periods for safety reasons and to avoid extensive damage to City facilities.
As a general rule, sports fields are closed for a minimum of 24 to 48 hours after a rain event. This usually means that the fields are closed the day it stops raining and the following day. Starting with the second day, the field conditions are evaluated to determine when they can be reopened.
The conditions at our sports parks vary greatly. For instance, Hero's Park tends to have wetter soil conditions because it is in a flood plain and has clay soils that tend to retain water instead of allowing free flowing drainage. At the other end of the spectrum are the fields at the Lake Forest Sports Park where the City designed the soils under the natural turf fields to have better overall drainage. After a rain event, the City groups local parks based on the soil conditions and this can result in some fields being reopened sooner than others.
Athletic use of wet or saturated natural turf fields can be unsafe for users and may cause extensive field damage resulting in field closures and costly renovations. Please use good judgment at all times when using our fields.
The following applies to all natural turf fields.
- The fields are closed when it is raining, regardless of the intensity of the rainfall. If it begins to rain during a game, you are required to stop play to avoid potential injury and damage to the field.
- In the event of rainfall (anything more than a very short duration light drizzle on a dry field), the fields are closed for a minimum of 24 hours. Rainfall of any typical duration usually results in the fields being closed the day it stops raining and at least the following day.
- The fields are evaluated every day following a rain event by City staff and/or City contractors to determine when the fields can be reopened for play. Some fields may be reopened sooner than others, because the conditions vary from park to park.
- Failure to abide by this policy and/or comply with field closure signage and/or direction from City staff on the use of fields may result in the forfeiture of the field deposit and/or loss of use of the fields.
Field Closure Hotline
To check whether fields are open at any given time, contact the City's Fields Hotline at (949) 461-3595. The hotline is only updated when fields are closed for maintenance or because of inclement weather.
