Austin Watering Schedule: Days, Restrictions, and Fines

Austin’s watering schedule assigns each property one or two specific days per week based on the last digit of the street address and the property type, and all watering must happen between midnight and 10 a.m. or between 7 p.m. and midnight on those days. As of September 2, 2025, Austin Water is operating under Conservation Stage restrictions: automatic irrigation systems are limited to one day per week, and hose-end sprinklers and timer-connected drip systems get two days.¹

Residential Watering Days by Address

Your day depends on whether your street address ends in an even or odd digit, and on whether you’re running an automatic system or a hose-end sprinkler.

Even addresses (ending in 0, 2, 4, 6, or 8): automatic systems on Thursday only; hose-end sprinklers on Thursday and Sunday.
Odd addresses (ending in 1, 3, 5, 7, or 9): automatic systems on Wednesday only; hose-end sprinklers on Wednesday and Saturday.

The permitted hours are the same in every case: midnight to 10 a.m., or 7 p.m. to midnight.² The second day for hose-end sprinklers is easy to miss. If you have an automatic system running on your one assigned day, you can still pull out a hose-end sprinkler on the second permitted day when the lawn needs it.

Commercial and Multi-Family Schedule

Apartment complexes, condominiums, and commercial properties are on a different set of days that spread demand away from residential peaks.

Even addresses: automatic irrigation on Tuesday only.
Odd addresses: automatic irrigation on Friday only.
Drip irrigation (any address): Tuesday and Friday.

Hours match the residential window.² If you manage a property, check the controller programming. A commercial system firing on a residential watering day is a violation regardless of the hour.

Schools, HOAs, and Golf Course Fairways

Public schools, HOA-maintained common areas, and golf course fairways sit on a third schedule. Hose-end sprinklers and drip irrigation are allowed on Monday and Thursday for every address. Automatic systems run Monday only. The same time window applies.²

What You Can Water Any Day

Several methods sit entirely outside the schedule. They use less water than broadcast sprinklers, so Austin Water places no day or time limit on them:

Hand-held hoses and refillable containers.
Tree watering devices, including Treegator bags, soaker hoses around trees, and automatic tree bubblers.
Soaker hoses and drip irrigation for vegetable gardens.
Reclaimed or auxiliary (non-potable) water.
Water used in a commercially applied herbicide or pesticide treatment.

Foundation watering is allowed on your assigned day during permitted hours, with sprinklers set to water the ground about 18 inches from the foundation rather than the wall itself.³ A soaker hose placed near the foundation qualifies under the exempt soaker hose category, so daily foundation watering that way stays within the rules.

What Counts as Water Waste

Austin’s water waste rules apply every day of the year, no matter which drought stage is in effect. Under Austin City Code Chapter 6-4, all of the following are violations:

Running an irrigation system with a broken or misaligned sprinkler head, a head that sprays onto pavement, or a head that mists because of excessive pressure.
Irrigation runoff that travels 50 feet or more onto a street, parking area, or other paved surface, or water that ponds more than a quarter inch deep on pavement.
Failing to repair a controllable leak in a sprinkler head, drip line, pipe, or valve.

⁴

Vehicle washing at home is allowed, but only with a hose fitted with a positive shutoff valve or with a single refillable container such as a bucket. The same rule governs washing driveways, patios, sidewalks, and other outdoor surfaces. Power washing without a shutoff valve, or hosing down a driveway to clear dust, is prohibited.⁴

Fines and How Violations Get Reported

Anyone can report suspected water waste through Austin 311 by dialing 3-1-1, calling 512-974-2000 from outside the area, filing an online service request, or using the Austin 311 mobile app.⁵ City staff then investigate and may issue a warning or a citation.

Penalties climb with each repeat offense. Under Stage 1 conditions, a first violation carries a fine of $50 to $200, a second $75 to $300, a third $250 to $500, and a fourth or later violation $400 to $800 per offense. Fine ranges can differ at higher drought stages, where enforcement tightens and maximum penalties rise.

How Drought Stages Change the Schedule

Austin’s outdoor water rules are tied to a stage system based on combined storage in the Highland Lakes, primarily Lake Travis and Lake Buchanan. The Lower Colorado River Authority reviews storage on January 1 and July 1 each year.⁶ The stages work like this:

Conservation Stage (current): automatic irrigation one day per week; hose-end sprinklers two days. Applies when combined storage stays above roughly 1.4 million acre-feet.
Stage 1: schedules tighten and enforcement steps up when storage conditions deteriorate.
Stage 2: triggered at 900,000 acre-feet or below (about 45% of capacity). Fountains that spray water into the air or produce a fall greater than four inches must shut off, and further prohibitions kick in.
Stage 3: triggered at 600,000 acre-feet (about 30% of capacity), with severe additional cuts to outdoor watering.
Stage 4: emergency conditions, in which outdoor irrigation may be banned entirely.

⁷ Austin moved from Stage 2 back to the Conservation Stage on September 2, 2025, after lake levels recovered above the 1.4 million acre-feet threshold.¹ Stages can change quickly during Texas summers, so check Austin Water’s drought response page before assuming your schedule is unchanged.

Variances for New Landscapes

If you’ve just put in new landscaping that needs extra water to establish, Austin Water reviews variance requests case by case. One common type is a new xeriscape landscape variance for drought-tolerant plantings that need a temporary adjusted schedule. Applications go through the Austin Water Customer Portal, and you must keep following the standard restrictions until the variance is approved.²

1
AustinTexas.gov. Austin Returns to Conservation Stage Watering Restrictions
2
AustinTexas.gov. Find Your Watering Day
3
AustinTexas.gov. Austin Water Drought Response
4
Austin, TX. Austin Code of Ordinances – Water Conservation – Section 6-4-12 Water Waste Prohibited
5
AustinTexas.gov. Report a Code Violation
6
Lower Colorado River Authority. Water Supply Operations
7
Speak Up Austin. Drought Contingency Plan