Bloomington, IL Landscaping Rules: Water Restrictions (2026)

Bloomington's Water Emergency Response Ordinance, City Code § 27-510, lets the City Manager, in consultation with the Water Department Director, proclaim a moderate, severe or extreme drought whenever combined Lake Bloomington reservoir levels fall below spillway level by set amounts (two feet in a critical month of May, June or July for moderate drought, eight feet in the other nine months) or stream flow in the Mackinaw River drops below 20 cubic feet per second. In a moderate drought the goal is a voluntary 5% cut and the City only asks customers to reduce aesthetic, domestic and landscape use.

A severe drought proclamation makes restrictions mandatory: the ordinance sets a 10% use-reduction goal and requires residential, commercial, industrial and institutional customers to use only low-volume hand-held applicators, never sprinklers or other remote broadcast devices, and to confine landscape watering to Tuesday and Saturday if the address is odd-numbered or Thursday and Sunday if it is even-numbered. , and prohibits direct withdrawals from Lake Bloomington. A customer who cannot technically comply, or who faces a health, sanitation or fire-protection emergency, may petition the Water Department Director in writing for a variance; a denial can be appealed to the City Manager. Restrictions lift only after reservoir levels hold at the next lower drought threshold, or better, for seven consecutive days.