Beaufort County, SC Landscaping Rules: Water Restrictions (2026)

Section 22-58 defines nonessential water use, including sprinkling lawns and plants except as this article otherwise allows, and requires that such use be curtailed during severe or extreme drought or water shortage. Section 22-56 delegates authority to the Beaufort-Jasper Water and Sewer Authority to formally proclaim an emergency drought once it meets criteria it establishes, at which point the article applies countywide. Section 22-59 tiers the response: at moderate drought, the goal is a voluntary 20 percent reduction and residential customers are asked to hold interior use to 75 gallons per person per day or 300 gallons per household per day.

At severe drought, restrictions become mandatory, with a goal of a 20 percent average and 30 percent peak-hour reduction; residential customers must cease nonessential use, hold interior use to the same 75/300-gallon caps, cease filling pools, use only low-volume handheld irrigation applicators instead of sprinklers, and restrict landscape watering to Tuesday and Saturday, while commercial, industrial and institutional users restrict landscape watering to Monday and Friday. At extreme drought, restrictions tighten further: residential interior use drops to 55 gallons per person per day or 220 gallons per household per day, pool filling and maintenance must stop, only handheld low-volume irrigation is allowed, and both residential and commercial landscape watering are restricted to Tuesday and Saturday.

Section 22-60 bars new water taps during a severe or extreme drought, and § 22-65 lets a customer petition the authority for a variance within statutory windows if compliance is not technically achievable.