Water restrictions in Hampshire County, MA — also called the watering schedule, outdoor irrigation rules, or drought ordinance — set which days and hours you can run sprinklers or irrigation.
Western Massachusetts is water-abundant, but summer watering limits still happen. Under the Water Management Act, MGL c.21G, public suppliers operate on state permits, and during dry spells towns and MassDEP drought declarations impose nonessential outdoor-water bans in the Connecticut River basin.
Hampshire County has no county water utility; supply comes from municipal systems such as Northampton and Amherst and from private wells. The governing framework is the state Water Management Act, MGL c.21G, under which MassDEP permits and registers large withdrawals and attaches conditions that can require water-use limits in dry conditions. When MassDEP declares a drought for the Connecticut River basin, or when a supplier's own permit triggers it, towns commonly impose summer nonessential outdoor-water-use restrictions, such as odd-even or evening-only lawn watering. These are seasonal responses to drought, not the permanent year-round schedules seen in arid states.
Watering in violation of a town's declared outdoor-use restriction draws fines set by the local water department or bylaw, often escalating with repeat offenses and, in severe cases, a shutoff warning. Restrictions lift when the drought passes.
Other ordinances people look up for this city. Green dot = verified primary-source excerpt.
Hampshire County, MA
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See how Hampshire County's water restrictions rules stack up against other locations.
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