Gulfport, FL Landscaping Rules: Water Restrictions (2026)

Gulfport doesn't set its own watering-day calendar; instead Division 2 of Chapter 11, Sec. 11-61 through 11-66, plugs the city into the Southwest Florida Water Management District's water shortage plan, codified at Chapter 40D-21, Florida Administrative Code. Sec. 11-63 provides that once the district's governing board or executive director declares a water shortage or water shortage emergency covering all or part of the city, every water-use restriction the district orders under Chapter 40D-21 for Pinellas County becomes enforceable under this division, and violating any provision of Chapter 40D-21 or an order issued under it is treated as a violation of the city's own code.

Sec. 11-62 makes the division apply broadly: to anyone using the water resource, whether drawing from the public utility, a private well, or a direct surface-water connection, though it exempts users of treated effluent or saltwater. Sec. 11-64 puts enforcement in the hands of every police officer and sheriff's deputy serving the city, and lets the city manager delegate enforcement to other local agencies as well. Sec. 00, up to 60 days in the county jail, or both, with each day of violation counted as a separate offense; officers can issue a single written warning during the early stages of a shortage instead of a citation.