Lacey, WA Landscaping Rules: Water Restrictions (2026)

Lacey Municipal Code § 13.48.010, titled Sprinkling season, does not print a fixed watering calendar. It puts the sprinkling hours, and any use of water for other than domestic purposes, under the jurisdiction of the City of Lacey water department, and it says those rules are subject to change from time to time if the need arises. A homeowner or business in the City of Lacey, Thurston County, therefore follows the rules the water department has currently established rather than a schedule written into the ordinance.

The enforcement ladder is printed in the same section. Failure to adhere to the rules the water department has established on restricted use of water is cause to discontinue service. A third violation by any person, firm, or corporation is a class 2 civil infraction with a maximum fine of $125.00 pursuant to RCW 7.80.120. A fourth or subsequent violation is a class 1 civil infraction with a maximum fine of $250.00, again pursuant to RCW 7.80.120. The section prints no fine for a first or second violation, so discontinuance of service is the remedy standing behind those.

Once service has been discontinued for violating the restricted-use rules, it is not resumed until a service charge has been paid. That charge is set as provided in LMC 13.44.030, which ties service fees to rates established by resolution of the city council. Chapter 13.44 also governs the bill itself: charges are due by the date printed on the billing, a 7.5 percent penalty is added to delinquent accounts, and water services to the premises are discontinued if payment is not received within nineteen days after the due date.

Two neighboring rules in Chapter 13.48 sit alongside the sprinkling rule. Section 13.48.060 makes it unlawful for any person knowingly to use water for lawn or garden sprinkling and irrigating purposes on any premises during the progress of a fire or conflagration within the city limits. Section 13.48.020 makes it unlawful for a person with a water connection to supply water for sprinkling, or for any other purpose, to any premises other than the ones the connection serves. Irrigation with reclaimed water is governed separately by Chapter 13.64.