Gordon County, GA Landscaping Rules: Water Restrictions (2026)

Section 9-5 of the Gordon County Code sets one outdoor watering window for the unincorporated area: watering to plant, grow, manage or maintain ground cover, trees, shrubs or other plants is allowed only between 4:00 p.m. and 10:00 a.m. That leaves the hours from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. closed to landscape irrigation. The section sets hours only. It contains no odd-even or assigned watering days and no tiered drought stages.

The window carries thirteen listed exceptions. Commercial crop and livestock operations are outside it, as is capture and reuse of cooling condensate or stormwater, gray water reuse under O.C.G.A. § 31-3-5.2, reclaimed wastewater from a permitted system, personal food gardens, and horticultural crops held for sale. New and replanted plants, seed or turf in landscapes, golf courses or sports turf fields can be watered during installation and for 30 days after. Drip irrigation and soaker hoses are exempt, as is hand watering with a hose with an automatic cutoff or a handheld container. Water from a private well or from surface water on the same property is exempt, along with athletic fields, golf courses and public turf grass recreational areas, installation, maintenance or calibration of irrigation systems, and hydroseeding.

Under subsection (b), no person shall use or allow the use of water in violation of the restriction. The Gordon County Code Enforcement Officer is the enforcement authority, and the county administrator or his designee can authorize other departments to support enforcement. The ordinance behind the section is dated December 21, 2010, and the editor's note says it was codified at the editor's discretion and did not expressly amend the Code.