diff --git a/build/source/hru_actor/hru_modelRun.f90 b/build/source/hru_actor/hru_modelRun.f90
index 0ec77286103c7dd9f9a5fa2d07f19c3c3321d891..e4bc6ce77a7a50fedc11ec26d57600650e0b6b27 100644
--- a/build/source/hru_actor/hru_modelRun.f90
+++ b/build/source/hru_actor/hru_modelRun.f90
@@ -211,7 +211,12 @@ subroutine runPhysics(&
   !****************************** From run_oneHRU *******************************
   !******************************************************************************
   ! water pixel: do nothing
-  if (hru_data%typeStruct%var(iLookTYPE%vegTypeIndex) == isWater) return
+  if (hru_data%typeStruct%var(iLookTYPE%vegTypeIndex) == isWater) then
+      ! Set wall_clock time to zero so it does not get a random value
+    wallTimeTimeStep = 0._dp
+    hru_data%diagStruct%var(iLookDIAG%wallClockTime)%dat(1) = 0._dp 
+    return
+  endif
 
   ! get height at bottom of each soil layer, negative downwards (used in Noah MP)
   allocate(zSoilReverseSign(nSoil),stat=err)