UPDATE: Watering in Hillsborough and Pinellas counties is now allowed twice a week as of Oct. 22, 2024.
ORIGINAL STORY:
The Southwest Florida Water Management District is once again extending lawn-watering restrictions for Hillsborough, Pasco and Pinellas counties.
The district voted to extend the restrictions until Dec. 31, according to a news release. Residents in the three counties will still be limited to watering their lawns once a week.
Current restrictions throughout Southwest Florida will no longer be in effect as of Sept. 2. At that time, the following counties and areas will be able to water their lawns twice a week:
- Citrus
- DeSoto
- Hardee
- Hernando
- Manatee
- Polk
- Sarasota
- Sumter
- Parts of Charlotte, Highlands and Lake counties
- Dunnellon and The Villages in Marion County
- The portion of Gasparilla Island in Lee County
Unincorporated Citrus, Hernando, and Sarasota counties, as well as Tampa, Venice, and Dunedin, will continue their once-per-week watering schedules, according to the release.
The district first issued watering restrictions in November 2023.
By the end of July, there was a districtwide 12-month rainfall deficit of about 5.1 inches, according to the release. Despite that, districtwide rainfall through Aug. 21, which includes the downpours that came with Debby, were above average.
READ MORE: Lawn-watering restrictions in the Tampa Bay area are extended once again
In the greater Tampa Bay region, the C.W. Bill Young Regional Reservoir is about 7.5 billion gallons below capacity, the release said.
To help refill the reservoir, the district approved a request from Tampa Bay Water to modify an emergency order for the Alafia River. The maximum withdrawal limit from the river will temporarily increase to 75 million gallons per day, according to the release, when flow is available above the river’s minimum flow. The order was extended until March 31, 2025.
Lawn-watering schedule for Hillsborough, Pasco and Pinellas:
These days and times may vary if your city or county has a different schedule or stricter hours in place:
If your address (house number) ends in:
- 0 or 1, water only on Monday
- 2 or 3, water only on Tuesday
- 4 or 5, water only on Wednesday
- 6 or 7, water only on Thursday
- 8 or 9, and locations without a discernible address, water only on Friday
- Properties under two acres may only water before 8 a.m. or after 6 p.m.
- Properties two acres or larger may only water before 10 a.m. or after 4 p.m.
- Low-volume watering of plants and shrubs (micro-irrigation, soaker hoses, hand watering) is allowed at any day and any time
