The Southwest Florida Water Management District is declaring a "phase one water shortage."
That means any water use that is considered "wasteful and unnecessary" is prohibited. It could be anything from too much lawn watering to leaving a hose running.
Those new rules start Dec. 1.
What it doesn't do is tighten rules on irrigation. Most counties and cities allow outdoor watering twice a week. That has been reduced to once a week in Tampa, Dunedin and Venice, as well as Pasco, Hernando, Sarasota and Citrus counties.
Residents are being asked to check their irrigation systems to make sure they're working properly. Swiftmud officials say outdoor water use accounts for more than half of all the water that homes use.
The order also requires local utilities to review their procedures for enforcing year-round water conservation measures and water shortage restrictions, including reporting enforcement activity to the District.
Swiftmud is monitoring the drier-than-normal conditions and is coordinating with regional water supply partners such as Tampa Bay Water and the Peace River Manasota Regional Water Supply Authority.
Here's the effective date and areas of enforcement:
- The District’s Phase I water shortage restrictions are in effect Dec. 1, 2025, through July 1, 2026.
- The restrictions apply to all of Citrus, DeSoto, Hardee, Hernando, Hillsborough, Manatee, Pasco, Pinellas, Polk, Sarasota and Sumter counties; portions of Charlotte, Highlands and Lake counties; the City of Dunnellon and The Villages in Marion County; and the portion of Gasparilla Island in Lee County.
- The Phase I Water Shortage Order does not change allowable watering schedules, however, it does prohibit “wasteful and unnecessary” water use, such as allowing water to flow from an unattended hose.
- Twice-per-week lawn watering schedules remain in effect except where stricter measures have been imposed by local governments. Some local governments, such as unincorporated Hillsborough County and the cities of Clearwater and St. Petersburg have local ordinances with special twice-per-week schedules.
- Some local governments such as unincorporated Citrus, Hernando, Pasco and Sarasota counties, and the cities of Dunedin, Tampa and Venice, have local ordinances that remain on one-day-per-week schedules.
