Madison, WI Landscaping Rules: Water Restrictions (2026)

04, "Outdoor Water Usage Restrictions," the Madison Water Utility General Manager holds standing authority to impose either voluntary or mandatory limits on outdoor water use across the entire utility service area, there's no permanent watering schedule written into the code; restrictions switch on only when specific operating conditions are met. Voluntary restrictions can be triggered to keep total daily pumpage below a preset ceiling or to comply with an electric utility's request to cut peak-load demand, but they exempt new sodded or seeded lawns, recognizing that new turf needs water to establish.

Mandatory restrictions require a more serious trigger: sustained low system pressure below 20 psi to any customer, the need to protect reservoir levels reserved for firefighting, or the loss of one or more major wells to mechanical failure. When either kind of restriction is imposed, the General Manager decides whether it covers every property or only alternate sides of the street on alternating calendar days, and whether it runs all day or during specified hours, the section gives the Manager that discretion rather than fixing the schedule in the ordinance.

Notice must run through major local news media before restrictions take effect, so residents find out through television, radio, or newspaper coverage rather than individual mailings. Once a mandatory restriction is in force, it has real teeth: violating it, or failing to comply with any of its requirements, is punishable by a forfeiture of not less than $20 nor more than $1,000, and the code treats each day of continued violation as a separate offense, so a multi-day violation can compound quickly. Voluntary restrictions carry no such penalty by their nature, compliance is requested, not mandated, which is the functional line the ordinance draws between the two tiers.