Water restrictions in Benton County, WA — also called the watering schedule, outdoor irrigation rules, or drought ordinance — set which days and hours you can run sprinklers or irrigation.
Water is Benton County's defining constraint. Washington follows prior appropriation, and the Yakima River Basin is fully adjudicated. Irrigation districts deliver seasonal water by seniority, and junior rights face curtailment in drought years.
The Columbia Basin desert runs on irrigation. Washington is a prior-appropriation state, so surface and groundwater withdrawals require a water right from the Department of Ecology, and the Yakima River that crosses Benton County is fully appropriated under the long-running Acquavella adjudication. Much valley water reaches farms and yards through irrigation districts such as Kennewick and Columbia, which ration by priority date; in dry years junior, proratable rights are cut first. Tri-Cities utility customers follow city conservation rules, tighter in drought. The Columbia River is the county's other major source.
Watering outside your district's or utility's schedule brings warnings, surcharges, and escalating fines, and drought-year curtailment can cut junior irrigation deliveries. Unauthorized withdrawal without a water right is an Ecology enforcement matter.
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See how Benton County's water restrictions rules stack up against other locations.
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