Plano, TX Landscaping Rules: Water Restrictions (2026)

The watering-day schedule sits in the city's water conservation ordinance, Code of Ordinances Chapter 21, Article II (Water Conservation), which the city adopted to meet TCEQ's minimum drought contingency plan requirements under 30 Tex. Admin. 20 (Sec. 21-53). Once the city manager initiates Stage 1 under Sec. 1 -- triggered when, for example, Plano's water demand exceeds 95 percent of deliverable capacity for three consecutive days, or the supply source is contaminated or damaged -- Sec. ' Days are assigned by the property's street address: even-numbered addresses water Mondays and Thursdays (April-October) or just Thursdays (November-March); odd-numbered addresses water Tuesdays and Fridays, or just Tuesdays in winter.

All homeowners associations must follow the even-address schedule regardless of their own address. ' Six exceptions survive every stage, including hand watering with a shutoff nozzle or soaker hose (up to two hours/day, no runoff), drip irrigation on a dedicated zone, 30 consecutive days of watering for new-construction landscaping or newly seeded turf after a variance, on-site well or permitted creek water, and irrigation-system maintenance/testing with a technician present and visible. Stage 2 tightens the schedule to once a week (or once every other week in winter) and adds bans on hosing paved surfaces, ornamental fountains, and pool draining/refilling; Stage 3 prohibits landscape irrigation with treated water entirely except two hours a day of hand-watering for foundations and trees.

Essential governmental water use for police, fire, and emergency services is exempt under Sec. 21-54. Enforcement runs under Sec. 21-56, which presumes the person controlling the irrigation devices on a premise is responsible for any violation, expressly waiving any culpable-mental-state requirement for administrative or criminal penalties.