Everett, WA Landscaping Rules: Water Restrictions (2026)
Water restrictions in Everett, WA, also called the watering schedule, outdoor irrigation rules, or drought ordinance, set which days and hours you can run sprinklers or irrigation.
Key Facts
- Who sets restrictions
- Everett utilities division
- Trigger
- Actual or impending water shortage
- Covers
- Lawn, garden, nonessential water use
- Penalty charge
- $20 or council-set amount
- Code section
- EMC § 14.16.390
Summary
Everett's utilities division can set specific hours for lawn and garden sprinkling, or ban it outright, during a water shortage or pressure emergency, with a shutoff and penalty for violators.
The utilities division shall have the right to forbid and/or establish certain specified hours for lawn and garden sprinkling and other nonessential uses of water within the whole or specified parts of the water system when there is an actual or impending water shortage, extreme pressure loss in the distribution system or for any other reasonable cause. The utilities division may at any time determine such rules and/or restrictions to be necessary and after reasonable notification thereof may enforce same. Upon the violation of any such rule and/or restriction, the water may be shut off to the premises of the violator without notice and shall not be turned on again until the owner or occupant of the premises has agreed to comply with the rules and/or restrictions and has paid to the utilities division a penalty charge of twenty dollars or such charge as established by council ordinance or resolution. (Ord. 1237-86 § 39, 1986.)
Official source re-checked September 8, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: current through Ordinance 4194-26, passed July 29, 2026).
Full Breakdown
Everett Municipal Code § 14.16.390 gives the utilities division authority to forbid, or set specified hours for, lawn and garden sprinkling and other nonessential water use across the whole system or in specified areas whenever there is an actual or impending water shortage, extreme pressure loss, or any other reasonable cause. The division sets the rules after reasonable notice and then enforces them. A customer who violates a watering restriction can have water shut off to the premises without notice, and service is not restored until the owner or occupant agrees to comply and pays a $20 penalty charge or the amount set by council ordinance or resolution.
Violations & Fines
Sprinkling outside imposed restrictions: water shutoff without notice, plus a $20 (or council-set) penalty charge before service is restored.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Everett set fixed lawn-watering days?
What happens if I water during a restricted period?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Everett
How Everett compares: Cities with the Strictest Water Restrictions·Compare Everett to another location·View the Washington landscaping rules overview
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Water Restrictions in Nearby Cities
How other cities in Snohomish County handle water restrictions.