Water restrictions in Forsyth County, NC — also called the watering schedule, outdoor irrigation rules, or drought ordinance — set which days and hours you can run sprinklers or irrigation.
North Carolina has no statewide homeowner watering ban, and there is no permanent year-round schedule in Winston-Salem/Forsyth. Mandatory odd/even watering days and night-only hours apply only when WSFC Utilities declares a drought/water-shortage stage.
Winston-Salem/Forsyth County (WSFC) Utilities draws from the Yadkin River and Salem Lake and imposes lawn-irrigation limits only during declared drought or water-shortage stages, not as a permanent rule. When restrictions are active, a common pattern is odd-numbered addresses water Tuesday and Thursday, even addresses Wednesday and Friday, and sprinkler irrigation only between 10:00 p.m. and 4:00 a.m. on assigned days. Stages are tied to drought monitoring and eased when supply recovers. As of mid-2026 the utility reported it had no plans to implement restrictions. Always check cityofws.org for the current stage.
Watering outside assigned days/hours during a declared water-shortage stage can bring utility warnings, fines, or escalating penalties per the city's water-shortage response measures.
Other ordinances people look up for this city. Green dot = verified primary-source excerpt.
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See how Forsyth County's water restrictions rules stack up against other locations.
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