Dallas, TX Landscaping Rules: Water Restrictions (2026)

on any day from April 1 through October 31, unless the water comes from a source other than the city's water or wastewater system. Subsection (b)(2) layers on a year-round watering-day schedule: using a hose-end sprinkler or an automatic irrigation system on any day other than the property's designated outdoor water use day is a separate offense, with defenses for hand-held hoses, drip irrigation, soaker hoses, hand-held buckets, system repair or testing, and commercial nursery stock. Subsection (b)(3) separately penalizes irrigation that lets a substantial amount of water run off onto a street or drainage area, or lets a system run during precipitation, and Subsection (b)(4) targets systems left with a broken or missing sprinkler head or maintained poorly enough to waste water.

Subsection (c) requires every automatic irrigation system installed or operated in the city to carry a working rain and freeze sensing device, and it is a separate offense to install or operate a system without one. The director of Dallas Water Utilities can grant a hardship variance under Subsection (d), but only if the applicant signs a compliance agreement approved by the city attorney, and the director can revoke that variance under Subsection (e) if its terms are violated. 1 does not set its own fine, a violation defaults to the citywide general penalty in Section 13-1: a fine of up to $500, with each day of continued violation charged as a separate offense.