Philadelphia, PA Landscaping Rules: Water Restrictions (2026)

Unlike many western cities, Philadelphia does not impose a standing year-round lawn-watering schedule on the books. Water-use restrictions are triggered by Commonwealth drought declarations made by the Pennsylvania Governor under the state's drought-management framework, and the City of Philadelphia Office of Emergency Management (OEM) publishes the resulting non-essential-use rules. The City's three-stage system runs Drought Watch (voluntary 5% cut), Drought Warning (voluntary 10-15% cut), and Drought Emergency. Under a Drought Emergency, OEM directs that residents not water lawns, not water gardens, trees, or shrubs except between 5 p.m. and 9 a.m., not use a hose to clean vehicles, trailers, or boats, not wash sidewalks, streets, or gutters, not operate decorative fountains or waterfalls, and not fill home swimming pools. Newly seeded or sodded lawns may be watered between 5 p.m. and 9 a.m. only by bucket, can, or hand-held hose with an automatic shutoff nozzle; sprinklers are not allowed. The Philadelphia Water Department supplies about 1.5 million customers from the Delaware and Schuylkill Rivers and during a Drought Watch asks residents to conserve voluntarily. As of mid-2025 southeastern Pennsylvania entered a Drought Watch for the first time since 2010, keeping restrictions voluntary unless escalated by the Governor.