Taylor, TX Water Use Rules: Leak Reporting Duty (2026)

Section 29-87 of Taylor's Drought Contingency Plan, adopted by Ordinance No. 2024-14 on March 14, 2024, defines non-essential water use to include, among nine listed uses, failure to repair a controllable leak within a reasonable period after having been given notice directing the repair of such leak. The same duty is repeated as a mandatory Stage 2 restriction under Section 29-89(d)(1)(8)(v), which applies under threat of penalty for violation once the city manager or director of public works declares Stage 2 based on the triggering criteria in Section 29-88.

In practice, the city or its designee must first give the customer notice identifying the leak and directing repair; only a continued failure after a reasonable period following that notice becomes a violation, so an unnoticed leak or one fixed promptly after notice does not trigger liability. Section 29-91 authorizes any city employee, police officer, or designee to issue a citation to a person reasonably believed to be in violation, directing an appearance in Taylor municipal court within three to five days. The section presumes the person in apparent control of the property committed the violation, subject to rebuttal, and separately presumes parents responsible for violations by minor children unless they show they had directed the child not to misuse water and could not reasonably have known of the violation.