Pasco's One-Day-a-Week Watering Rule Stays Through March as Drought Drags On

Pasco County's one-day-a-week outdoor watering limit was supposed to end today. It won't. The Southwest Florida Water Management District's Governing Board voted Sept. 22 to keep the Modified Phase III "Extreme" Water Shortage Order in place through March 31, 2027, meaning the restrictions that were set to expire Oct. 1 now stretch through the entire dry season.

The vote covers Pasco and 10 other counties across the district, from Citrus to Sarasota. For Pasco households, nothing about the rules themselves changes. What changes is how long they last, and that matters because the driest months of the year in Florida run from roughly November through May.

District officials say the region simply hasn't gotten the rain it needs. Rainfall over the past 12 months is running more than 15 inches below normal, the second summer in a row with a below-average wet season. Lake levels across the district remain below their normal range, and Tampa Bay Water's C.W. Bill Young Regional Reservoir, the big backup supply for the Tampa Bay area, held 7.87 billion gallons as of Sept. 20. That's about half of what it can hold.

A district official told board members this week that every drought indicator the district tracks is below normal, even as supply levels in the regional reservoirs have started ticking up. The hope is that a strong El Niño pattern brings a wetter winter, but the district isn't waiting to find out.

What stays the same for Pasco residents

The rules in effect since the order was first issued remain exactly as they were. Every household gets one watering day a week, assigned by the last digit of the house number:

Address ends in	Watering day
0 or 1	Monday
2 or 3	Tuesday
4 or 5	Wednesday
6 or 7	Thursday
8 or 9, or no address	Friday

Watering on that day is limited to midnight to 4 a.m. or 8 p.m. to 11:59 p.m. Properties smaller than an acre can only use one of those two windows, not both. Hand watering and drip irrigation are allowed any day, but only before 8 a.m. or after 6 p.m.

A few other rules worth remembering before winter sets in:

• Home car washing is allowed only on your watering day, and only with a hose that has a shutoff nozzle.
• HOAs cannot force residents to water more often or replace landscaping to meet aesthetic standards. They also can't require pressure washing.
• Decorative fountains are capped at four hours a day, with posted hours.
• Restaurants can only serve water to customers who ask for it.

Local utilities, including Pasco County Utilities, are required to keep enforcing the order, and that means issuing citations on a first offense rather than a warning.

Why utilities want sprinklers checked now

Pasco County Utilities is pushing residents to take advantage of free sprinkler system checks and leak inspections while the restrictions stay in force. The logic is simple: with only one watering day allowed, a broken sprinkler head, a stuck valve or a leaking line wastes water for a full week before anyone notices, and it can drive up a water bill without actually helping the lawn. This is the second time the district has extended this particular order. It was first declared earlier in 2026 and had already been pushed from an original expiration to Oct. 1 before Tuesday's vote moved it to the end of March. The district says there are no changes to the restrictions themselves, just more time under them.

The district continues to monitor conditions and is working with Tampa Bay Water and the Peace River Manasota Regional Water Supply Authority on supply issues tied to the drought. No additional local decisions on the order are scheduled before it expires at the end of March, when the Governing Board will revisit conditions again.

Stay connected with the Pasco County Community Website at pascocommunity.com and on Facebook for updates on this and other local stories. Have a question about your watering day or a tip to share? Join the conversation in our Community Forum, and check out more alerts and community news affecting Pasco County households.

Header photo: Photo: Sóc Năng Động (Pexels)