Miami-Dade County, FL Landscaping Rules: Water Restrictions (2026)

The core rule sits in § 32-8.2(d)(ii)(1). No user can irrigate, or cause, let, permit, allow or suffer the irrigation of, residential, commercial, institutional, governmental or industrial landscaping between 10:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. on any day. Outside those hours, the allowed day depends on the address. An odd-numbered address (ending in 1, 3, 5, 7 or 9, or a letter from N through Z) irrigates only on Wednesday and/or Saturday. An even-numbered address (ending in 0, 2, 4, 6 or 8, or a letter from A through M) irrigates only on Thursday and/or Sunday. A property with no address, a right-of-way, and a multifamily or homeowners' association system that waters even and odd addresses in the same zones all count as even-numbered. Post office box numbers are not addresses.

New landscaping, meaning anything in the ground 90 days or less, gets extra days. Plants in place 30 days or less can be watered Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday and/or Sunday. Plants in place 31 to 90 days can be watered Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and/or Saturday. The 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. ban still applies, and the date of purchase can be shown with a dated receipt or invoice. On installation day the new planting can be watered once without regard to the normal days and times, and the soil can be watered 24 hours before installation. A whole irrigation zone qualifies only if at least 50 percent of it is new landscaping; otherwise only the individual new plantings can receive the extra water.

Several methods ignore the day and time schedule: low-volume irrigation, micro-irrigation, and low-volume hand watering by one person with one hose and a self-canceling or automatic shutoff nozzle, including rain barrels and cisterns. Systems can be tested for cleaning, maintenance and repair with an attendant on site, no more than once per week, with each test not exceeding ten minutes per zone. Watering-in of fertilizer is limited to November 1 through May 14 under Section 18C-4. The section does not apply to athletic play areas, agricultural and nursery operations, or reclaimed water. Any stricter South Florida Water Management District shortage order supersedes it while the declaration lasts, and new automatic systems must carry rain-sensing technology as required by Section 373.62, F.S.

Under subsection (a), cities enforce the standard themselves unless they notify the County by letter or resolution that they want County enforcement, and a city ordinance must be equal to or more stringent than this section.