Water restrictions in Wake County, NC — also called the watering schedule, outdoor irrigation rules, or drought ordinance — set which days and hours you can run sprinklers or irrigation.
As of April 20, 2026, mandatory Stage 1 Water Restrictions are in effect across Wake County for all customers served by Raleigh Water, the regional drinking-water utility operated by the City of Raleigh Public Utilities Department. Raleigh Water supplies more than 650,000 residents across Raleigh, Garner, Wake Forest, Rolesville, Knightdale, Wendell, and Zebulon, which together cover most of Wake County. Restrictions were triggered by severe drought in the Falls Lake and Swift Creek watersheds, although drinking-water supply remained at approximately 84% capacity at the time of declaration. Under Stage 1, automatic and manual sprinklers may operate only between midnight and 10 a.m., with odd-numbered street addresses watering only on Tuesdays and even-numbered addresses only on Wednesdays; hose-end sprinklers are allowed 6 a.m.–10 a.m. or 6 p.m.–10 p.m. on the same address-based schedule. Handheld hoses and drip irrigation remain allowed at any time. The state framework is N.C. Gen. Stat. §143-355.1, which establishes the North Carolina Drought Management Advisory Council to coordinate drought information that utilities use to activate their water shortage response plans.
Wake County, North Carolina has no separate countywide outdoor watering ordinance. Drinking-water supply to most of Wake County is provided by Raleigh Water — the City of Raleigh Public Utilities Department — which delivers water to more than 650,000 residents across the City of Raleigh and the Wake County merger towns of Garner, Wake Forest, Rolesville, Knightdale, Wendell, and Zebulon. Cary, Apex, Morrisville, and parts of Holly Springs are supplied separately by the Town of Cary system; Fuquay-Varina operates its own system. The discussion below addresses Raleigh Water customers, who collectively make up the majority of Wake County water users.
On April 15, 2026, Raleigh Water announced mandatory Stage 1 Water Restrictions effective April 20, 2026 in response to severe drought in the Falls Lake and Swift Creek watersheds. The City emphasized that its treated drinking-water capacity remained adequate at approximately 84% at the time of declaration, but that conservation was required to protect raw-water supply through the dry summer.
Under Stage 1, automatic-system sprinklers and manual sprinkler heads connected to in-ground systems may operate only between midnight and 10 a.m., and only on the address-based schedule: properties with odd-numbered street addresses (last digit 1, 3, 5, 7, 9) may irrigate only on Tuesdays; properties with even-numbered street addresses (last digit 0, 2, 4, 6, 8) may irrigate only on Wednesdays. Hose-end sprinklers (above-ground sprinklers fed by a hose) are allowed on the same address-based day schedule, but during two narrower windows: 6 a.m.–10 a.m. and 6 p.m.–10 p.m. Handheld hoses with a positive shut-off nozzle and properly maintained drip irrigation are exempt from the day-and-time schedule and may be used at any time.
Stage 1 also imposes commercial-sector obligations: restaurants must serve tap water only on request from customers, and hotels, motels, and bed-and-breakfasts must request that guests reuse towels and linens during their stay. All Raleigh Water customers are required to repair plumbing leaks within 48 hours of receiving notice of the leak.
Enforcement under Stage 1 is "education first." Raleigh Water sends conservation staff to investigate complaints, issues a warning on first contact, and assesses civil penalties only for subsequent violations. The reporting channels are the conservation hotline at (919) 996-3245 (also the 24/7 customer service line) and the email Water.Conservation@raleighnc.gov.
The state regulatory framework that makes a Stage 1 declaration possible is N.C. Gen. Stat. §143-355.1, which establishes the North Carolina Drought Management Advisory Council. The Council uses the U.S. Drought Monitor and local hydrologic data to issue advisories designating areas with impending or current drought conditions and the severity level. Local water utilities such as Raleigh Water then use those advisories to trigger the stages of their own water-shortage response plans. Customers in Cary, Apex, Morrisville, Holly Springs, and Fuquay-Varina remain subject to their own utility's separate drought stages, which may differ from Raleigh Water's and should be confirmed with each town's utility department.
Raleigh Water enforces Stage 1 Water Restrictions on an education-first basis. A first complaint typically results in a courtesy contact and a written warning. Repeat or willful violations are subject to civil penalties under the City of Raleigh's water-shortage response plan ordinance; specific per-occurrence amounts and any escalation schedule should be confirmed by calling Raleigh Water at (919) 996-3245 or emailing Water.Conservation@raleighnc.gov. Examples of conduct that will trigger enforcement include running automatic sprinklers on a non-assigned day (e.g., an odd-numbered address watering on Wednesday), running sprinklers outside the midnight–10 a.m. window, running hose-end sprinklers outside the 6 a.m.–10 a.m. or 6 p.m.–10 p.m. windows, washing a vehicle at home with a free-running hose, or failing to repair a known plumbing leak within 48 hours. If Stage 2 or Stage 3 is later declared, the watering schedule tightens further and the penalty structure typically escalates — at Stage 2 most utilities prohibit nonessential outdoor water use entirely.
Wake County, NC
Wake County Code Chapter 92 directly regulates amplified music. Section 92.02 defines a "sound-magnifying device" to include any amplifier, stereo, speaker, ...
Wake County, NC
Wake County, NC has no leaf-blower-specific ordinance. Under Code § 92.04 (Chapter 92 — Noise), "lawn care equipment and agricultural activities" are exempt ...
Wake County, NC
Wake County Code Sec. 91.08(B)(4) makes it unlawful to allow an animal to bark, whine, howl or yowl in an excessive, continuous or untimely fashion that seri...
Wake County, NC
Wake County Code Sec. 92.05 prohibits plainly audible unreasonable construction noise in residential or business districts during nighttime hours (11:00 p.m....
Wake County, NC
Wake County Code Sec. 92.03 makes it unlawful to cause or allow unreasonable noise in unincorporated Wake County. Daytime hours run 7:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. a...
Wake County, NC
North Carolina counties do not have express statutory authority to regulate driveway connections directly, so Wake County itself does not issue residential d...
See how Wake County's water restrictions rules stack up against other locations.
Help us keep this page accurate. If you notice an error or outdated information, let us know.