Fauquier County, VA Landscaping Rules: Water Restrictions (2026)

Article II of Chapter 19 applies only to properties served by the Fauquier County Water and Sanitation Authority (WSA); Sec. 19-21 states it reaches only water WSA actually supplies. Sec. 19-23 has the County Administrator, working with WSA, establish and publish a schedule of 'designated outdoor water use days' for irrigation and similar activities, with WSA responsible for updating the schedule and notifying customers by mail and newspaper publication. Once the Board of Supervisors issues a declaration of drought situation, Sec. 19-26 lets the County Administrator, on finding drought warning conditions, promulgate voluntary measures such as limiting sprinkler irrigation to designated outdoor water use days, restricting vehicle washing and outdoor surface washing to those days, and requiring pools to be kept at least three-quarters full.

If conditions worsen to a drought emergency, Sec. 19-27 lets the Administrator make those same categories mandatory: sprinkler and irrigation-system use is prohibited outright, along with topping off swimming pools, non-drought-related outdoor washing, and new landscape installation, subject to carve-outs for hand-held hoses with a shutoff nozzle or a three-gallon bucket, golf courses, commercial nurseries, and athletic-field dust control. Sec. 19-28 lets the Administrator grant a written hardship waiver from these restrictions for good cause. The drought team advising the Administrator includes the WSA executive director, the county's Fire Rescue Chief, the town managers of Warrenton, Remington and The Plains, and the local Virginia Health Department director, with the Fire Rescue Emergency Manager serving as drought coordinator.