Year-round outdoor Watering Restrictions

Mandatory Watering Requirements

The Tarrant Regional Water District and the City of Fort Worth have initiated "Stage 1 Watering Restrictions". The water district's customers include Fort Worth, Arlington, Mansfield and the Trinity River Authority, which in turn sell water to other cities. The City of Saginaw purchases water from the City of Fort Worth and must follow their water restrictions. This means residential customers in Saginaw will be limited to outdoor irrigation twice weekly.

Twice-a-Week SmartWatering

Wise water use is everyone’s responsibility. Please do your part to be water smart. As part of its water conservation and drought/water emergency management plans, Fort Worth and Saginaw have year-round outdoor water use restrictions to maintain and encourage water efficiency. These requirements include:

• No watering by irrigation systems or sprinklers between 10 a.m.-6 p.m. 
• Watering by hand-held hose, drip irrigation or soaker hose is allowed at any time. 
• Twice-a-week irrigation system or sprinkler schedule with assigned days for ALL water customers.   
• No watering hard surfaces. 
• No watering during precipitation. 

No water waste through runoff, or through missing, misaligned or broken sprinkler heads.

Stage 1 Watering Restrictions:

• MONDAY - No Outdoor Watering Allowed
• TUESDAY & FRIDAY - Nonresidential customers: apartments, businesses, parks, common areas
• WEDNESDAY & SATURDAY - Residential addresses ending in 0, 2, 4, 6, 8
• THURSDAY & SUNDAY - Residential addresses ending in 1, 3, 5, 7, 9

The rules against outdoor watering between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. will remain in effect but residents can still hand-water plants and flower beds.

Exceptions:

• Foundations may be watered up to 2 hours on any day using a handheld hose, soaker hose or drip irrigation system placed within 24-inches of the foundation, that does not produce a spray of water above the ground.
• Newly installed shrubs (first year) and trees (2 years) may be watered up to 2 hours on any day by handheld hose, drip irrigation, a soaker hose or tree bubbler. Tree watering is limited to an area not to exceed the drip line of a tree.
• Establishing new turf is discouraged. If hydromulch, grass sod, or grass seed has been installed, watering is allowed for the first 30 days to establish roots. After that, the above schedule applies. This does not include over seeding with rye since turf already exists.
• Newly installed shrubs (first year) and trees (2 years) may be watered up to 2 hours on any day by handheld hose, drip irrigaiton, a soaker hose or tree bubbler. Tree watering is limited to an area not to exceed the drip line of a tree.
• All users are encouraged to reduce the frequency of draining and refilling swimming pools.
• All users are encouraged to use native and adapted drought tolerant plants in landscaping.
• Washing of any motorized vehicle is limited to a hand-held bucket or a hand-held hose equipped with a positive-pressure shutoff nozzle for quick rinses. Vehicle washing may be done at any time on the premises of a commercial car wash or commercial service station.
• Supervised testing, repair or maintenance of a sprinkler system is an exception to allow water to run more than 50 feet away from the property.
• No hosing of paved areas (sidewalks, driveways, parking lots, tennis courts, patios or other impervious surfaces), except to alleviate an immediate health or safety hazard.
• No hosing of buildings or other structures for purposes other than fire protection or surface preparation prior to painting.

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