Carrollton, TX Landscaping Rules: Water Restrictions (2026)

Section 52.093(A), part of Chapter 52's landscape water management rules adopted by Ordinance 2968 on April 19, 2005, creates three separate irrigation offenses for anyone who owns, leases, or manages property in the city. It is a violation to irrigate or water a lawn or landscape in a manner that causes 'a constant stream of water onto a street or alley in excess of 50 feet from the property,' to irrigate 'during any form of precipitation,' including through an automatic sprinkler system, or to irrigate 'when the ambient temperature is below 32 degrees Fahrenheit.' Section 52.093(A)(3) separately makes it an offense to operate a system with broken or missing sprinkler heads, or one that has not been properly maintained to prevent water waste.

Hardware rules back up the behavioral ones. Section 52.093(B)(1) requires that any new irrigation system installed in the city's customer service area on or after October 1, 2005 carry rain and freeze sensing devices that stop the system from running during precipitation or when it is below 32 degrees. Installing a system without those sensors, or running one that lacks them, is its own offense under Section 52.093(B)(2).

Property owners facing genuine hardship can ask the City Manager or a designee for a variance under Section 52.093(C), but the applicant must sign a compliance agreement, show the variance will not meaningfully cut into the city's water supply, and tie the request to health, safety, or welfare. The city can revoke a granted variance under Section 52.093(D) if the compliance agreement is violated or the community's welfare requires it.