Lexington County, SC Landscaping Rules: Water Restrictions (2026)

Lexington County adopted its county drought response plan under Sec. 26-66, which county council may amend from time to time so long as changes stay compatible with the state water use policy; the plan is kept on file with the clerk to county council. Sec. 26-67 sets out how a drought is proclaimed: council may declare that moderate, severe, or extreme drought conditions or water shortages exist and are expected to persist, based on information from the state water resources commission, the county administrator or designee, or other sources that monitor water supply or delivery.

If council makes that finding, it must adopt a resolution stating the condition and outlining remedies consistent with the drought response plan, and the county must publish a public notice in a newspaper of general circulation listing the voluntary or mandatory curtailed water uses. Separately, if the state water resources commission notifies the county that the central drought response committee has declared conditions warranting conservation action, the county must respond and immediately implement the appropriate response, even without its own council resolution. The county administrator or a designee enforces the article under Sec.

26-68. Under Sec. C. Code 1976, Sec. 49-23-100. The ordinance also authorizes, though does not require, public and private water suppliers regulated by the state public service commission to assess surcharges on customers who willfully violate curtailment orders or to discontinue their service outright. Because the article applies only to the unincorporated county, residents of the Town of Lexington, West Columbia, Cayce, Irmo, and Chapin fall under their own municipal water-conservation rules instead, and Lexington County customers should check their own supplier's curtailment notices for specific watering-day schedules, since the county code proclaims conditions rather than fixing calendar-based watering days itself.