Cicero, IL Landscaping Rules: Water Restrictions (2026)
Water restrictions in Cicero, IL, also called the watering schedule, outdoor irrigation rules, or drought ordinance, set which days and hours you can run sprinklers or irrigation.
Key Facts
- Season
- May 15 to September 15
- Schedule
- Odd address = odd days, even = even days
- Daily blackout
- No sprinkling 12:00 noon-6:00 p.m.
- Drought override
- Town president can ban all sprinkling
- Penalty
- $50-$750 via Code's general penalty, § 1-12
Summary
From May 15 through September 15, Cicero limits lawn sprinkling to odd-numbered calendar days for odd-addressed properties and even days for even-addressed ones under Sec. 98-63, and bans all sprinkling between noon and 6:00 p.m. every day in that stretch, with a total ban possible during a declared drought.
Sec. 98-63. - Lawn sprinkling restrictions. (a) Between May 15 and September 15 of each calendar year, those persons whose last digit in their street address is an odd number may sprinkle their lawns on odd-numbered calendar days only, and those persons whose last digit in their street address is an even number may sprinkle their lawns only on even-numbered calendar days. (b) Between May 15 and September 15 of each calendar year, sprinkling is prohibited between the hours of 12:00 noon and 6:00 p.m. on all days. (c) If a drought or an emergency water shortage as declared by the town president occurs, all lawn sprinkling is prohibited until such time as the drought or emergency has ended.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: Code of Ordinances: Supplement 121).
Full Breakdown
Sec. 98-63 of Cicero's water utilities chapter runs an odd/even sprinkling schedule tied to street address for four months each year. Between May 15 and September 15, a property whose street address ends in an odd digit may only run its sprinklers on odd-numbered calendar days, while an even-numbered address is limited to even-numbered days. every single day during that same May 15 to September 15 window, so even a household on its assigned watering day cannot run sprinklers through the hottest part of the afternoon.
Subsection (c) gives the town president authority to shut off lawn sprinkling entirely if a drought or emergency water shortage is declared, and that blanket ban stays in force until the town president determines the drought or emergency has ended, overriding the normal odd/even schedule. The ordinance traces back to a 1936 ordinance and was last amended in 1989, and it sits within the water utilities chapter administered by the town's water department rather than a stand-alone environmental code, tying sprinkling limits to the same office that bills residents for water usage.
Violations & Fines
Sec. 98-63 sets no fine of its own; violations fall under the Code's general penalty clause, Sec. 1-12, which states that 'where no specific penalty is provided, the violation of any such provision... shall be punished by a fine of not less than $50.00 and not more than $750.00,' and that 'each day any violation... shall continue shall constitute a separate offense.' Sprinkling on the wrong calendar day, sprinkling during the noon-to-6:00 p.m. blackout, or continuing after a declared drought emergency can each be cited, with fines accumulating daily.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I water my lawn every day in the summer in Cicero?
Is there a time of day when I can never sprinkle, even on my assigned day?
What happens to the sprinkling schedule during a drought?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Cicero
How Cicero compares: Cities with the Strictest Water Restrictions·Compare Cicero to another location·View the Illinois landscaping rules overview
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Water Restrictions in Nearby Cities
How other cities in Cook County handle water restrictions.