Amarillo, TX Landscaping Rules: Water Restrictions (2026)
Water restrictions in Amarillo, 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
- Governing plan
- Drought Contingency Plan, Sec. 18-2-85 to 18-2-93
- Baseline schedule
- Odd addresses Sun/Tue/Thu; even Mon/Wed/Fri; none Saturday
- Stage 2 trigger
- Reservoir at 50% or demand at 80% of capability
- Stage 3 hours
- Watering confined to 8 p.m. to 6 a.m.
- Stage 4
- Prohibits nearly all nonessential watering citywide
- Penalty
- Separate offense per violation under Sec. 1-1-5
Summary
Amarillo's Drought Contingency Plan assigns every address an odd or even watering day: odd-numbered addresses may water Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday, even-numbered addresses Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, with no outdoor watering allowed on Saturday. The Director of Utilities activates this Watering Schedule at Stage 1, makes it mandatory at Stage 2, and can escalate to nighttime-only or near-total nonessential-use bans as the water supply drops.
Watering Schedule: Permissible days for outdoor water use based upon odd (O) and even (E) numbered addresses on the days shown here: Sun Mon Tue Wed Thurs Fri Sat / O: X - X - X - None / E: - X - X - X None
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: Code of Ordinances: Supplement 81).
Full Breakdown
The City's five-stage Drought Contingency Plan, codified at Sec. 18-2-85 through Sec. 18-2-93, governs outdoor watering citywide. Section 18-2-88(b) defines the baseline "Watering Schedule": properties with odd-numbered addresses may irrigate Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday, even-numbered addresses Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, and no address may water on Saturday. The Director of Utilities, under Sec. 18-2-90, monitors the reservoir at SE 34th Avenue and Eastern Street plus production capacity shared with the Canadian River Municipal Water Authority and can move the City between stages at any time.
Stage 1 (Mild) begins at roughly a 60 percent reservoir drawdown or 70 percent of production capability for five straight days and only requests voluntary compliance, targeting a 5 percent cut. Stage 2 (Moderate), triggered at 50 percent reservoir capacity or 80 percent demand, makes the schedule mandatory with a 10 percent reduction goal. and targets 15 percent savings. , bans topping off swimming pools except from a private well, and confines commercial nurseries and sod farms to the same nighttime hours, aiming for a 25 percent cut.
Stage 5 (Emergency) lets the Mayor declare an emergency and order pro rata curtailment of deliveries to wholesale, industrial, and institutional users based on each user's five-year average monthly usage.
Violations & Fines
Sec. 18-2-93 makes it an offense to use City water contrary to the Plan, reaching owners, managers, and tenants alike, with each violation a separate offense punishable under Municipal Code Sec. 1-1-5. Any peace officer or a City building safety inspector may cite a violator, and the Utilities Director can also refer a sworn complaint to the municipal court prosecutor. Breaking a Stage 4 or Stage 5 restriction is specifically declared an offense against public health or safety.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are Amarillo's regular watering days?
Who decides when drought restrictions kick in?
Can I get an exception to water outside the schedule?
What happens during the worst-case Stage 4 or 5 restrictions?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Amarillo
How Amarillo compares: Cities with the Strictest Water Restrictions·Texas rules heatmap·Compare Amarillo to another location·View the Texas landscaping rules overview
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