Irving Water Restrictions 2026
Dallas County ยท Texas
Published:
Stage 1 Year-Round Conservation (Dallas Water Utilities wholesale)
We have not independently verified this cityโs watering schedule. Rules change with drought stage and can be updated at short notice. Confirm your assigned watering days on the City of Irving Water Utilities official page before watering. Following the wrong schedule can result in a municipal fine.
Verification needed
Check with utility
Before 10:00 AM
Allowed Hours
Verification needed
Check with utility
Check Your Watering Day With Irving
We have not verified Irvingโs current watering schedule against an official source. Watering rules are set by your city and change with drought stage.
Confirm your assigned days on Irvingโs official water page: City of Irving Water Utilities.
Allowed Watering Hours
Irving operates under permanent year-round Stage 1 conservation rules tied to its wholesale supply relationship with Dallas Water Utilities (DWU) and its own raw-water source at Lake Chapman in Northeast Texas. From April 1 through October 31, lawn and landscape irrigation is prohibited between 10:00 AM and 6:00 PM. From November 1 through March 31, the time-of-day blackout is lifted, but the two-days-per-week schedule remains in effect. Mondays, Thursdays, and Fridays are no-watering days for everyone.
Still Allowed
๐ง Hand Watering
Allowed with shut-off nozzle. Hours: Hand-watering with a hand-held hose fitted with a positive shutoff nozzle, soaker hoses, and drip irrigation are permitted any day of the week, but must still observe the 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM blackout from April 1 through October 31..
๐ฟ Drip Irrigation
Exempt from day-of-week limits. Must follow allowed hours.
Fines & Enforcement
Up to $2,000 per offense
Under the Irving Code of Ordinances, a water restriction violation is a Class C misdemeanor punishable by a fine of not less than $1.00 and not more than $2,000.00 per offense. Each day a violation continues constitutes a separate offense, so repeat violations can compound daily. The city may also pursue civil remedies including injunctive relief in addition to criminal fines.
๐ HOA Rules During Restrictions
Texas Property Code Section 202.007 prohibits homeowner associations from penalizing residents for brown or dormant turf during a city-declared water restriction. Irving's year-round Stage 1 schedule qualifies, so HOAs in Las Colinas, Valley Ranch, Hackberry Creek, Song, and other Irving neighborhoods cannot fine homeowners for following the city ordinance.
If your homeowners association sends a violation notice for a dormant or brown lawn during the current restriction period, respond in writing citing the applicable law and include a copy of the City of Irving Water Utilities's current restriction order. Most HOAs will rescind the notice once they are made aware of the legal protections in place. If the issue persists, contact your countyโs code enforcement division for assistance.
Why These Restrictions Exist
Texas water use is overseen statewide by the Texas Water Development Board (TWDB) and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ), which require every retail public water supplier to adopt a Drought Contingency Plan and a Water Conservation Plan. Across the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, the largest wholesale providers, Dallas Water Utilities, Tarrant Regional Water District, the North Texas Municipal Water District, and the Upper Trinity Regional Water District, have moved their customer cities onto permanent year-round Stage 1 conservation schedules to stretch finite reservoir storage across a fast-growing region. Irving is one of the largest wholesale customers of Dallas Water Utilities (DWU). DWU's reservoir system, Lake Ray Hubbard, Lake Tawakoni, Lake Fork, and a share of Lake Grapevine, supplies treated water to Irving alongside Dallas itself, Grand Prairie, and roughly 40 other North Texas wholesale customers. Irving also owns its own raw-water rights to Lake Chapman (Cooper Lake) in Delta County, contracted from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in 1968 with a delivery capacity of 75 million gallons per day. Lake Chapman water is conveyed to Lewisville Lake, treated by Dallas under a storage-and-treatment agreement, and then delivered back to Irving customers. Irving's two-day-per-week schedule with an April-October midday blackout is rooted in the Dallas Chapter 49 framework first adopted in 2001 and tightened into the permanent year-round form in 2012. Irving's own Drought Contingency Plan was revised twice in 2011 during the worst single-year drought in Texas history and again in the required five-year update in 2014, when the city consolidated from a five-stage plan into a three-stage plan. During the 2011-2014 drought, Irving moved to Stage 2 restrictions limiting irrigation to once per week on a designated day, a reminder that Stage 1 is the baseline, not the ceiling, of local water rules. Irving's water demand profile is distinctive within DFW: the Las Colinas business district and Toyota Music Factory entertainment area, the city's shared frontage with DFW International Airport, and the heavy commercial footprint left along the former Texas Stadium site at State Highway 183 and Loop 12 mean that landscape irrigation is only one piece of overall demand.
This deficit has accumulated over the current water year and represents a significant departure from historical averages for the Irving area. Water supply reservoirs and aquifer levels are well below seasonal targets, necessitating mandatory conservation measures.
How to Keep Your Lawn Alive During Irving Water Restrictions
11 tips tailored for Irving homeowners during Stage 1 Year-Round Conservation (Dallas Water Utilities wholesale) restrictions.
Bermudagrass is the dominant warm-season turf in Irving and tolerates the two-day schedule well once established; mow at 1.5 to 2 inches and let clippings fall to shade the soil.
Zoysia lawns common in Las Colinas and Valley Ranch handle drought better at a 2 to 2.5 inch mowing height and benefit from deep, infrequent soakings on assigned days.
St. Augustine in older South Irving neighborhoods needs the most water of the common DFW turfs; mow at 3 to 4 inches and prioritize early-morning watering before the 10:00 AM blackout.
Water before sunrise on your assigned Tuesday/Saturday or Wednesday/Sunday slot to avoid evaporation losses that can reach 30 to 50 percent during DFW summer afternoons.
DFW's tight Blackland and Houston Black clay soils run off quickly; use the cycle-and-soak method (three 5-minute runs separated by 30 minutes) instead of one long 15-minute run.
Check sprinkler heads monthly for misters, geysers, and overspray onto streets and sidewalks; broken heads are the single biggest source of code-enforcement violations in Irving.
Install a WaterMyYard or Irving Water Utilities rain/freeze sensor; Texas state law requires functioning sensors on automatic systems and the city offers conservation rebates.
Aerate Bermuda and Zoysia in late spring and topdress with a thin layer of compost to break up DFW clay and improve infiltration on your two assigned watering days.
Replace turf strips narrower than 4 feet and high-water beds along Las Colinas streetscapes with Texas SmartScape natives such as Gulf muhly, autumn sage, and Texas sage.
Add 3 to 4 inches of hardwood mulch around trees and shrubs to cut soil-moisture loss in half during the 100-degree-plus stretches typical of July and August in Dallas County.
Hand-watering with a shutoff nozzle is allowed any day; use it to spot-treat dry edges and new plantings rather than running the full irrigation system off-schedule.
Irving Water Restriction FAQs
What days can I water my lawn in Irving?
What hours can I run my sprinklers in Irving?
What are the fines for water violations in Irving?
Can I install new sod or seed in Irving during restrictions?
When will water restrictions end in Irving?
Who supplies Irving's water, is it Dallas Water Utilities?
What is Lake Chapman and how does it fit into Irving's supply?
What is the fine for violating Irving water restrictions?
Has Irving ever moved past Stage 1 to tougher restrictions?
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