Drought Conditions Prompt Watering Limits in Many U.S. Cities

Much of the United States is experiencing drought conditions, prompting many communities to implement water restrictions ahead of summer. A Lawn Love study ranked the cities where lawn watering costs the most under current rules. The U.S. Drought Monitor map shows swaths of the country facing extreme to exceptional drought.

The last twelve months, from May 2025 to April 2026, marked the warmest period on record for the contiguous United States.

Many drought plans use staged limits that add restrictions as conditions worsen. Lawn Love notes that some localities apply up to four or five stages. Baseline rules in many cities limit sprinkler use to one or two days per week, often with address-based schedules and daytime blackout hours.

com lists two-day schedules and daytime limits as common in monitored California and Texas cities. Under stricter stages, watering may drop to one day per week or include bans on non-functional turf. Permanent prohibitions in California cover actions such as hosing hard surfaces, allowing runoff onto streets, and running non-recirculating fountains.

Violations often begin with warnings and can escalate to citations and fines. Corpus Christi, Texas, is currently under Stage 3 shortage conditions. The rules ban lawn watering but allow limited drip irrigation or hand watering for food gardens on designated days.

CityRuleLookup’s summer 2026 guide tracks watering rules for 663 cities and counties across 46 states, with 534 places listed as moderate or strict. Lawn Love ranked the five most expensive cities for lawn watering this year as Scottsdale, Arizona; Henderson, Nevada; Las Vegas; Tucson, Arizona; and Buckeye, Arizona.

Of the top 50 cities on the list, 40 percent are in the Southwest, where the U.S. Drought Monitor shows moderate to exceptional drought across nearly the entire region.