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Watering restrictions extended through July 1 in Tampa Bay

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Published  February 28, 2024 6:02am EST
Hillsborough County
FOX 13 News

Watering restrictions extended in Tampa Bay

The Tampa Bay Area is still in a 12-month rainfall deficit which is why officials are having residents take action to build up water supply.

HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, Fla. - If your grass is more on the brown side, you're not alone, and it could get a little worse. 

The Southwest Florida Water Management District has extended its watering restrictions for much of Tampa Bay through July 1st. 

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The region is in a 12-month rainfall deficit of 7.4 inches, which means we're below the average amount of rainfall we're used to getting.

"We need to be careful about how we're using our water in order to conserve until the regular rains come back," Southwest Florida Water Management District Hydrologic Data Manager Tamera McBride said. "This summer we had a lack of the regular 5 o'clock thunderstorms so over day after day that kind of adds up."

According to the district, the Tampa Bay Area typically has a per capita gallons per day-per-person-use of about 80 to 100 gallons of water. 

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Fifty percent of that is used on lawns. It's why they're extending their initial order issued in November through July 1st, which limits residents to only watering their lawns once a week.

"There's definitely a supply. We're not going to be running out of water," Southwest Florida Water Management District Water Use Permit Program Bureau Chief Darrin Herbst said. "This is kind of a normal blip dry season type situation. We didn't get that rain we needed last year. We're starting to recover, and we just need everybody to put in that little extra effort." 

Hillsborough, Pinellas and Pasco counties are under once-per-week restrictions, whereas surrounding counties like Polk and Manatee counties are under twice-a-week restrictions.

Watering days and hours in unincorporated Hillsborough County: If your address (house or business number) ends in:

  • 0 or 1, water only on Monday 
  • 2 or 3, water only on Tuesday
  • 4 or 5, water only on Wednesday 
  • 6 or 7, water only on Thursday 
  • 8 or 9, water only on Friday

"It's important to stagger the days for local governments so that they can maintain really strong pressure in their distribution system. If everybody jumps on and uses water at the same time it takes a lot of water and the pressures can start to decrease," Tampa Bay Water Chief Science Officer Warren Hogg said.

Failure to comply can result in warnings and fines starting at $100 and up to $500 for repeat offenders.