Dallas Water Restrictions: Schedule, Variances, and Fines

Dallas water restrictions limit outdoor sprinkler watering to two days a week based on your street address, ban sprinkler use between 10:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. from April 1 through October 31, and carry fines of up to $2,000 per incident after a first-offense warning. The schedule runs year-round regardless of weather, and it applies to every residential and commercial property in the city’s water service area.¹

Your Two Assigned Watering Days

Dallas City Code Section 49-21.1 assigns every property two watering days per week based on the last digit of the street address.¹

Odd-numbered addresses water on Wednesdays and Saturdays.
Even-numbered addresses, and properties with no street number, water on Thursdays and Sundays.

Two days is the maximum, not a minimum. You can water less often, but never more.² This schedule stays in effect all year, including winter.

The April Through October Midday Ban

From April 1 through October 31, sprinkler systems and hose-end sprinklers cannot run between 10:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m., even on your assigned day.¹ Early morning, before 10:00 a.m., is the most effective window because wind and temperatures are low.

The midday ban applies only to spray irrigation. Hand watering, soaker hoses, and drip irrigation can run at any hour.²

What Still Counts as a Violation on Your Assigned Day

Watering on the right day at the right time is not enough on its own. Dallas treats several outcomes as prohibited water waste no matter when they happen:

Running an automatic sprinkler system during rain or at or below freezing temperatures. All automatic systems are required to have a working rain and freeze sensor.
Operating a system with broken, missing, or misdirected sprinkler heads, including heads that spray the sidewalk, driveway, or street.
Letting water run off your property and form a stream or puddle on any paved surface.
Irrigating driveways, sidewalks, and streets, whether from misdirected heads or hose placement.

If your system doesn’t have a functioning rain and freeze sensor, installing one is the first step toward compliance.³

What You Can Still Do Any Day

Some watering methods are exempt from the two-day limit because they use water efficiently.

Hand watering with a hose is allowed any day and any time, as long as the hose has a shut-off nozzle. A hose without one is a violation.¹
Soaker hoses and drip irrigation are permitted any day at any time. Foundation watering with a soaker hose is specifically allowed.²
Filling a pool, refilling after maintenance, backwashing pool filters, and operating ornamental fountains are all permitted.³

The waste prohibitions still apply. A soaker hose draining into the gutter or hand watering that floods the sidewalk is still a violation.

Variance for New Landscaping

New sod, grass seed, and bedding plants need more water than established landscaping to take root. Dallas Water Utilities offers a temporary variance that permits extra watering for five weeks after installation.⁴ You have to apply before you start the extra watering. After five weeks, the standard schedule resumes.

Every other provision of the ordinance still applies while the variance is active. Broken heads, runoff, or watering during rain will get the variance revoked immediately.³

When Drought Stages Tighten the Rules

The twice-weekly schedule is the permanent baseline. When reservoir levels drop or demand spikes, Dallas activates its Drought Contingency Plan, which has three stages that layer stricter rules on top of the standard ordinance.⁵

Stage 1 is mild and asks voluntarily for cutbacks to once-a-week watering, with vehicle washing restricted to buckets or shut-off hoses. Stage 2 makes once-a-week watering mandatory and adds a surcharge: residential customers using more than 15,000 gallons per month pay a 25% rate increase on the excess. Stage 3 adds further mandatory cutbacks and higher surcharges. A stage takes legal effect once the city director formally declares it.

Fines and How Enforcement Works

A first offense gets a warning rather than a fine, giving you a chance to fix the issue, whether a broken head, a bad timer, or an unfamiliar schedule. After the warning, fines run from $250 to $2,000 per incident, with repeat violations pushing toward the upper end.⁶ Violations are handled in municipal court, and each day of ongoing noncompliance can be a separate offense, so a broken system left running for a week can generate stacked citations.

Dallas Water Utilities and municipal code enforcement officers patrol for violations and respond to complaints. You can report suspected waste through Dallas 311 online, through the mobile app, or by calling 311 from within the city. Anonymous reports are accepted, and code enforcement follows up and issues citations when violations are confirmed.

1
American Legal Publishing. Dallas Code of Ordinances – Chapter 49 Water and Wastewater
2
Dallas City News Hub. Save Water. Nothing Can Replace It.
3
Save Dallas Water. Exceptions and Variances
4
Save Dallas Water. Newly-Installed Landscape or Special Circumstance Variance Application Form
5
Save Dallas Water. City of Dallas 2024 Drought Contingency Plan
6
Save Dallas Water. City of Dallas Water Conservation Ordinance