Albany, OR Landscaping Rules: Water Restrictions (2026)

The curtailment sections of the Albany Municipal Code print no permanent watering-day schedule. The restrictions live in Chapter 11.01 and arrive by declaration. Under § 11.01.285, the Public Works Director, or a designee, can declare a severe or critical water supply shortage and activate some or all of the mandatory restrictions in § 11.01.287, plus any other curtailment measure needed for a specific event. The City's Water Curtailment Plan, developed under § 11.01.235 to meet OAR 690-086-0160, guides which measures switch on. Once measures are active, the Director must immediately notify the City Manager and the City Council and submit a report at the next available Council meeting. Curtailment can cover the entire water system or smaller, more localized portions of it.

Section 11.01.287 lists the measures. Item (1) is an odd/even watering schedule. Item (2) bans watering or irrigating of lawns, grass or turf except new lawn seeded or planted after March 1st of the current calendar year, athletic fields frequently and currently used for organized play, golf course tees and greens, and park and recreation areas of particular significance and value to the community as approved by the Director in consultation with the Parks and Recreation Director. City-supplied water cannot be used to wash sidewalks, walkways, streets, driveways, parking lots or other hard-surfaced areas except where necessary for public health or safety, or to wash vehicles except at commercial carwash facilities using water-recycling equipment. Decorative fountains in commercial or institutional settings cannot be cleaned, filled or topped up unless they recycle their water, and hydrant and water main flushing is for emergencies only. At the harshest levels, all outdoor non-essential water use is prohibited except where necessary for public health and safety, and large industrial and institutional accounts are limited to fire protection and other critical functions approved by the Director.

Water waste is a separate, standing rule. Section 11.01.230 makes it unlawful to allow waste of City water by knowingly or negligently causing, authorizing or permitting it to escape from its intended beneficial use into a river, creek, storm sewer, street, highway, road or ditch. The section defines waste as the use of water in excess of the reasonable volume necessary to meet the beneficial use.