The summertime restriction, which became mandatory in 2014 after being voluntary for many years, is intended to help conserve the city’s water supply by reducing water waste and evaporation that is common to daytime outdoor watering.
The city’s Emergency Water Management Plan is in effect year-round, limiting water customers to outdoor watering on two assigned days each week. Outdoor watering restrictions were made mandatory by the City Council in 2014 in response to the years-long statewide drought and its damaging impact on the North Texas water supply.
Watering schedule for residential customers is determined by street address. Those properties with an even-numbered address (ending in 0, 2, 4, 6 or 8) or no street address can water on Tuesday and Saturday. Properties with an odd-numbered address (ending in 1, 3, 5, 7 or 9) can water on Wednesday and Sunday. Commercial and multi-family customers can water on Mondays and Thursdays.
There are provisions for variances in certain circumstances, including:
- Properties with irrigation systems that do not tap into the city water supply: This includes properties with their own water well, and properties that have an approved detention system that recycles irrigation water.
- Properties too large for all irrigation zones to be watered within the allowed time: Those properties can request a variance allowing them to spread their watering into additional days, but with each zone only being watered twice in a week.
- Properties that install new sod or landscaping: A variance can be requested to allow more frequent watering for a set period to allow the new plantings to become established.
