Abilene, TX Landscaping Rules: Water Restrictions (2026)
Water restrictions in Abilene, TX, also called the watering schedule, outdoor irrigation rules, or drought ordinance, set which days and hours you can run sprinklers or irrigation.
Key Facts
- Watering days
- Set by last digit of house/box number
- Allowed hours
- 12:00 a.m.-10:00 a.m. and 6 p.m.-midnight
- Full-storage schedule
- 3 watering days/week above 50% combined storage
- Hand-watering exemption
- Hose, 5-gallon container, or drip system anytime
- New lawn allowance
- 8 minutes, 3 cycles daily, for 3 weeks
- Enforcing agency
- City of Abilene Water Utilities Department
Summary
Abilene's water conservation plan bans outdoor irrigation except during overnight hours and assigns every water customer a designated watering day tied to the last digit of their address. The Water Utilities Department tightens the schedule as combined storage in Hubbard Creek Reservoir and Lake Fort Phantom Hill falls, under Code of Ordinances § 32-144.
Watering days: Customers are encouraged to conserve water by watering their lawn areas only once every seven (7) days on one (1) of their designated watering days. A customer's watering day is determined by the last digit of the house number or property address... When combined storage in Hubbard Creek Reservoir and Lake Fort Phantom Hill is above fifty (50) percent, the following three-day a week watering schedule applies: Designated Watering Days: Wednesday, Friday, Sunday - Odd numbered addresses; Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday - Even numbered addresses; Monday, Wednesday, Friday - Industrial, commercial, government customers, public and private schools and universities. ... Watering by all commercial, industrial, and residential customers utilizing individual sprinklers, or sprinkler systems, on lawns, gardens, landscaped areas, trees, shrubs or other plants is prohibited except on designated day(s) and then only during the hours of 12:00 midnight to 10:00 a.m. and from 6:00 p.m. until 12:00 midnight.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: Code of Ordinances: Supplement 14).
Full Breakdown
until 12:00 midnight. A property's watering day runs off the last digit of its house number or box number; multi-unit properties use the lowest address number, and Lake Fort Phantom Hill lot owners and trailer-park residents use their lot number. When combined storage in Hubbard Creek Reservoir and Lake Fort Phantom Hill sits above 50 percent, the City runs a three-day-a-week schedule: odd addresses water Wednesday, Friday and Sunday, even addresses water Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, and industrial, commercial, government, and school customers water Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
Storage between 40 and 50 percent drops that to two days a week. Section 32-145 sets a separate day-per-digit table that applies once the City declares a drought stage: addresses ending in 7 or 8 water Sunday, 9 waters Monday, 0 waters Tuesday, 1 waters Wednesday, 2 waters Thursday, 3 or 4 water Friday, and 5 or 6 water Saturday. Hand-watering with a held hose, a five-gallon container, or a drip/soaker system is allowed any day at any time for gardens, flowerbeds, trees and shrubs.
Newly seeded, sodded, or heavily re-tilled lawns may run eight minutes per cycle, up to three cycles daily plus overnight watering, for three weeks after installation. The rule applies to every potable-water customer of the City of Abilene Water Utility System; customers using private groundwater wells must post a visible "WELL WATER" sign if they water outside the assigned schedule.
Violations & Fines
Violations are civil, with fines paid to municipal court under § 32-147, and each day a violation continues counts as a new offense. Unpaid fines convert to surcharges on the customer's water bill, and the City may discontinue water service until surcharges and reconnection costs are paid. If irrigation runs during a prohibited time and no one answers at the address, a City worker may enter the property and shut off the irrigation system or the water source under § 32-148(d).
Frequently Asked Questions
What is my watering day in Abilene?
Can I water my garden by hand any day?
What happens if I water on the wrong day?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Abilene
How Abilene compares: Cities with the Strictest Water Restrictions·Texas rules heatmap·Compare Abilene to another location·View the Texas landscaping rules overview
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