Plano, TX Water Use Rules: Leak Reporting Duty (2026)
Key Facts
- Governing sections
- Plano Code §§ 21-47–21-52
- Max fine
- $1,000 per offense (§21-48)
- Continuing violation
- Each day separate
- City remedy
- Water service suspension (§21-49)
- Variance length
- Up to 1 year
- Watering ban hours
- 10 a.m.–6 p.m., Apr–Oct
- Internal duty
- City staff must report leaks (§21-20)
Summary
Plano treats leaking water that reaches a neighbor's yard or the street as a nuisance. Sec. 21-52 bans letting 'fugitive' or excess water flow onto adjacent property or the right-of-way, or creating ice there, and Sec. 21-49 lets the city suspend water service if an unfixed leak becomes a health or safety hazard.
Sec. 21-52. - Fugitive water flow prohibited. No person or municipal or other government facility or operation shall cause or permit the flow of excess or fugitive water onto any adjacent property or public right-of-way, or the creation of ice onto any adjacent property or public right-of-way. ... Sec. 21-48. - Penalty. Any person who violates any of the provisions of this division shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction thereof shall be punished by a fine not to exceed one thousand dollars ($1,000.00) for each offense, and each day any such violation shall continue shall be deemed to constitute a separate offense.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: Code of Ordinances: Supplement 153).
Full Breakdown
Sec. 21-47 defines 'fugitive water' as the pumping, flow, release, escape, or leakage of water from any pipe, valve, faucet, connection, diversion, or well, from any water supply, transport, storage, disposal, or delivery system, onto adjacent property or the public right-of-way, excluding allowed storm run-off, temporary system failures, or other emergencies. 'Waste' is similarly defined as nonbeneficial water use, covering overflowing landscape irrigation, misdirected sprinklers, and hosing hard surfaces that runs onto neighboring property or the right-of-way, subject to listed exceptions such as firefighting, spill abatement, and vandalism-caused flow.
Sec. 21-50 declares this excess landscape water, fugitive water, and general water wastage a nuisance. Sec. from April through October. Sec. 21-52 separately bans letting fugitive or excess water, or ice, reach adjacent property or the right-of-way. Sec. 21-49 puts the city manager or assistant city manager in charge of enforcement, lets the city suspend water service where an unabated leak or waste condition creates a health or safety hazard, and allows a variance of up to one year with a corrective schedule. Separately, Sec.
21-20 requires all city employees, including police officers, to report any leaks or unnecessary water waste they observe to the water department superintendent on furnished report forms, an internal city-staff duty, not one imposed on residents.
Violations & Fines
Wasting municipal water or letting fugitive water or ice reach a neighbor's property or the right-of-way is a misdemeanor under Sec. 21-48, punishable by a fine of up to $1,000 per offense, with each day of the violation a separate offense: double the Code's usual $500 general penalty. The city manager can also suspend water service to a property where an unabated leak creates a health or safety hazard, and may grant a variance of up to one year with a corrective schedule.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is it against the rules to let a leak run onto my neighbor's yard in Plano?
What's the fine for wasting water or letting a leak run in Plano?
Can the city shut off my water over an unrepaired leak?
Do city employees have to report water leaks they see?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Plano
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