Bonita Springs, FL Landscaping Rules: Water Restrictions (2026)

The Bonita Springs City Council adopted Article III of Chapter 42 through Ordinance No. 21-07 on 9-1-2021, tying the city to the South Florida Water Management District year-round measures under Chapter 40E-24, F.A.C. Sec. 42-46(4) sets the schedule for all users. Irrigation is prohibited between 9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. Even addresses, meaning numbers ending in 0, 2, 4, 6 or 8, locations with no address, and the letters A through M, water Thursday or Sunday, or both. Systems that irrigate both even and odd addresses within the same zones, such as multi-family units and homeowners' associations, follow the even schedule.

Odd addresses, meaning numbers ending in 1, 3, 5, 7 or 9 and the letters N through Z, water Wednesday or Saturday, or both. New landscaping, meaning anything in the ground 90 days or less, can be irrigated once on the day it is installed regardless of the schedule. For the first 30 days it can be watered any day except Friday, and from 31 to 90 days any day except Tuesday, Friday or Sunday. A zone qualifies only if it holds at least 50 percent new landscaping.

Sec. 42-47 allows system testing and repair with an attendant on site, no more than once per week and ten minutes per zone, and allows low volume hand watering, micro-irrigation, rain barrels and cisterns on any day. Sec. 42-45 exempts reclaimed water, saltwater, agricultural and nursery irrigation, and athletic play areas. Sec. 42-48 requires a moisture-sensing shutoff on new automatic systems. Wasteful and unnecessary watering is prohibited at all times, and a water shortage order from the district supersedes the article. Sec. 42-49 lets the city manager or designee decide a hardship variance within 45 days, with an appeal to the city council within 45 days of the denial notice.