HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, Fla. — Efforts continue to refill the regional reservoir that provides water to the Tampa Bay area and one measure being taken is keeping some counties on a once-per-week watering schedule.
The governing board of the Southwest Florida Water Management District voted Tuesday to extend once-per-week watering restrictions through Dec. 31 for Hillsborough, Pasco and Pinellas counties.
Starting next week, however, the rest of the Tampa Bay area counties will be able to return to their typical year-round watering schedule, which is twice per week.
On Sept. 2, Citrus, Hardee, Hernando, Manatee, Polk and Sarasota counties will go back to the district's year-round water conservation measures, aka twice-per-week watering. Parts of Highlands County will be able to return to that schedule.
It should be noted that some local governments have ordinances that maintain a once-a-week watering schedule. Those include areas in unincorporated Citrus, Hernando and Sarasota counties, and the cities of Dunedin (Pinellas), Tampa (Hillsborough) and Venice (Sarasota).
A water shortage order was first issued back in November 2023 for the Tampa Bay area and surrounding areas managed by the district. It's been extended twice, in February and June, since then due to the continued rainfall deficit and potential drought conditions.
At the end of July, the district said the region was still experiencing a 12-month rainfall deficit totaling about 5.1 inches. Excessive rainfall from Hurricane Debby, coupled with the region's typical rainy season, has put the area above average this month. This is expected to help reduce the deficit further.
Despite the help from rainfall, the district says Tampa Bay Water's 15.5-billion-gallon C.W. Bill Young Regional Reservoir is approximately 7.5 billion gallons below capacity. The district also approved extending and modifying Tampa Bay Water's emergency order using the Alafia River to help refill the reservoir. The maximum withdrawal limit was raised from 60 million gallons per day to 75 million gallons, provided additional flow is above the river's minimum.
That order is extended through March 31, 2025.
When to water your lawn based on your address
Here's when you can water your lawn once per week based on your house number. Remember this may not apply to your area; check with your local government for possible changes.
Right now, this once-per-week watering schedule is in place through Dec. 31, 2024, for all of Hillsborough, Pasco and Pinellas counties.
If your address (house number) ends in...
- ...0 or 1, water only on Monday
- ...2 or 3, water only on Tuesday
- ...4 or 5, water only on Wednesday
- ...6 or 7, water only on Thursday
- ...8 or 9*, water only on Friday
- * and locations without a discernible address
Here are other things to keep in mind:
- Unless your city or county already has stricter hours in effect, properties under two acres in size may only water before 8 a.m. or after 6 p.m.
- Unless your city or county already has stricter hours in effect, properties two acres or larger may only water before 10 a.m. or after 4 p.m.
- Low-volume watering of plants and shrubs (micro-irrigation, soaker hoses, hand watering) is allowed on any day and at any time.
