Hoboken, NJ Landscaping Rules: Water Restrictions (2026)

City Code § 193-13 restricts outdoor landscape water use for every user in the City of Hoboken at all times, regardless of whether the water comes from the public supply, groundwater or a stormwater detention system. Hose or hose-end sprinkler watering is limited to two days per week: even-numbered addresses water Mondays and Thursdays, odd-numbered addresses water Tuesdays and Fridays, and only between 6:00 a.m. and 9:00 a.m. or 5:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m., with no single area watered longer than 30 minutes and no watering during rain.

Automatic irrigation systems with a conventional controller follow the same two-day schedule but must run between midnight and 10:00 a.m., with spray-head zones capped at 15 minutes and rotary-head zones at 50 minutes. Systems with a smart controller meeting SWAT protocol testing, registered with the City and displaying a yard placard, may irrigate outside the two-day schedule if programmed by a certified New Jersey Landscape Irrigation Contractor under N.J.S.A. 45:5AA-3. All automatic systems must carry a rain sensor that interrupts irrigation once a quarter inch of rain has fallen.

The Mayor may declare a Water Emergency and impose additional restrictions that supersede this article, and stricter state requirements always control. Exemptions cover rainwater harvesting or gray/reclaimed water use, green roofs, commercial farms and nurseries, one-day watering tied to chemical treatment, new sod or landscaping within its first 21 days, and supervised system checks by a certified contractor.