Hernando County's Lawn Watering Limits Extended Through March as Drought Drags On

Hernando County homeowners will keep watering their lawns just one day a week for another six months. The Southwest Florida Water Management District's governing board voted Tuesday, Sept. 22, to extend its Modified Phase III "Extreme" Water Shortage order from Oct. 1, 2026 through March 31, 2027, keeping the county under the same strict schedule that has been in place since March.

The reason is simple: it still hasn't rained enough. District officials say rainfall across the region has fallen more than 15 inches below normal over the past year. Lake levels remain below their normal ranges throughout the district, and rivers that feed drinking water supplies haven't bounced back.

"All of our drought indicators within our district are below their normal range," April Breton, the district's water use permitting bureau chief, told the board Tuesday, adding that regional reservoir supplies have started to tick up but need more water before the dry season returns.

Tampa Bay Water's C.W. Bill Young Regional Reservoir, the region's main backup drinking water supply, held just 7.87 billion gallons as of Sept. 20. That's roughly half of what it can hold.

What Hernando County residents can and can't do

The rules for Hernando County households haven't changed, just the calendar. Outdoor irrigation is limited to one day a week, based on the last digit of your street address, and only during narrow overnight windows.

On your assigned day, sprinklers and irrigation systems can only run from midnight to 4 a.m. or from 8 p.m. to 11:59 p.m. Hand watering, soaker hoses and micro-irrigation are allowed every day, but only before 8 a.m. or after 6 p.m.

A few other rules carry through the extension:

• Home car washing (non-commercial) is allowed only on your lawn-watering day, and you need a hose with a shutoff nozzle.
• Decorative fountains can run no more than four hours a day, and the hours have to be posted.
• Restaurants can only serve water to customers who ask for it.
• HOAs and community associations cannot force residents to increase water use to meet landscaping or pressure-washing standards.

The county says residents can anonymously report suspected watering violations, and Hernando County's Utilities Department can be reached at (352) 754-4037 with questions.

Why officials say relief could still be months away

There's a reason the district picked March 31 as the new end date rather than lifting restrictions sooner. Tamera McBride, who manages the district's hydrologic data section, told the board that despite a disappointing wet season, forecasters are watching a strong El Niño pattern that has a 90% chance of persisting into the fall and winter, which typically brings more rain to Florida.

Until that materializes, water managers are keeping the tightest tier of restrictions in place. Modified Phase III also lets the City of Tampa reduce flows through its dam on the Hillsborough River, preserving water behind it for the city's drinking supply, a sign of how stretched the region's water system has become.

The order covers Hernando County along with Citrus, DeSoto, Hardee, Hillsborough, Manatee, Pasco, Pinellas, Polk, Sarasota and Sumter counties, plus parts of several others, making this a region-wide response rather than a Hernando-specific measure. The district's board will revisit conditions again before the order's March 31, 2027 expiration, and whether restrictions ease, hold, or tighten further will depend largely on how much rain actually falls this winter.

For more updates on this and other stories, visit Hernando County Community Website or follow us on Facebook. Have thoughts on the extended watering rules? Join the conversation in our Community Forum, and check out more local alerts and news coverage from around Hernando County.

Header photo: Photo: Sóc Năng Động (Pexels)