Last updated:
Last verified: October 6, 2026, against San Antonio Water System (SAWS).
SAWS Stage 3 restrictions begin when the 10-day rolling average of the Edwards Aquifer level at the J-17 index well drops to 640 feet above mean sea level. Under Stage 3 you may water your landscape once a week on your designated day, from 5 a.m. to 10 a.m. or 9 p.m. to midnight. Drip irrigation and tree bubbler zones get two days, Monday and Friday, in those same hours. A hand-held hose is still allowed any day, any time.
Where San Antonio stands today
SAWS announced the return to Stage 3 on 21 September 2026 after a brief reprieve, and its homepage on 6 October 2026 reads “Stage 3 Rules in Effect”. Stage 3 is triggered when the 10-day rolling average of the Edwards Aquifer level falls below 640 feet mean sea level. Aquifer levels change daily: the readings this page quoted on 31 August (the J-17 index well at 644.4 feet, a 10-day average of 642.9 feet) are superseded.
Because Stage 2 and Stage 3 share the same watering schedule, the main thing the return to Stage 3 changed is the drought surcharge.
What changes between Stage 2 and Stage 3
Less than most people expect, and that is the part worth knowing. Your sprinkler day does not change and your legal hours do not change. Stage 2 already limits landscape watering to once a week on your address day, in the 5 a.m. to 10 a.m. and 9 p.m. to midnight windows, and Stage 3 keeps exactly that. SAWS states that Stage 3 watering hours are the same as Stage 2.
What differs under Stage 3:
- Drip irrigation and tree bubblers run Monday and Friday, inside the same 5 a.m. to 10 a.m. and 9 p.m. to midnight hours as Stage 2.
- A drought surcharge starts. For single-family accounts it is $10.37 per thousand gallons on everything above 20,000 gallons in a month.
- Residential vegetable gardens may be watered by drip irrigation on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, during Stage 3 watering hours only.
Every restriction from Stage 1 and Stage 2 stays in force on top of these. Stages add, they do not replace.
Your Stage 3 watering day
Your day is set by the last digit of your street address, the same as under Stage 2:
| Last digit of address | Your watering day |
|---|---|
| 0 or 1 | Monday |
| 2 or 3 | Tuesday |
| 4 or 5 | Wednesday |
| 6 or 7 | Thursday |
| 8 or 9 | Friday |
Sprinklers and irrigation systems run on that day only, in the two legal windows. Watering in the middle of the day is the violation people get charged for most often, because it is visible from the street and it wastes the most to evaporation.
The drought surcharge, in plain numbers
The Stage 3 surcharge for a single-family account is $10.37 per thousand gallons above 20,000 gallons a month. Most San Antonio households never reach 20,000 gallons in a month. The ones that do are almost always running an in-ground irrigation system on turf through a Bexar County summer, which is exactly the use the surcharge is designed to discourage.
Commercial irrigation surcharges vary with use and meter size.
What a violation costs
Inside San Antonio city limits, the first charge for a single-family or small commercial site is $137. That first charge can be waived by completing a one-hour course online. Repeat charges climb from there, and they are higher for high-use commercial irrigation.
When Stage 3 ends
Coming out of a stage is not automatic the moment the aquifer recovers. SAWS can consider lifting a stage 15 days after the aquifer level rises back above the trigger. That lag is deliberate: it stops the city bouncing between stages on a single rainstorm.
Frequently asked questions
Is San Antonio in Stage 3 right now?
Yes. SAWS announced the return to Stage 3 on 21 September 2026, and its homepage on 6 October 2026 shows Stage 3 Rules in Effect. Stage 3 is triggered when the 10-day rolling average falls below the 640-foot trigger.
Can I hand-water during Stage 3?
Yes. A hand-held hose is allowed any day and any time under Stage 3, with no day-of-week or hour restriction. So is a drip line on its permitted days, a soaker hose on your watering day, and a bucket.
What days can I run drip irrigation under Stage 3?
Monday and Friday, from 5 a.m. to 10 a.m. or 9 p.m. to midnight.
Does my watering day change in Stage 3?
No. Your day is still set by the last digit of your street address, and the legal hours are the same as Stage 2. If you already water on the right day at the right time, Stage 3 changes nothing about your sprinklers.
What is the J-17 index well?
J-17 is the Bexar County monitoring well the Edwards Aquifer Authority reads to represent the San Antonio pool of the aquifer. SAWS drought stages are keyed to its 10-day rolling average, not to a single day’s reading.
Sources
Stage 3 rules, trigger, surcharge and violation charges: San Antonio Water System, Stage 3 Drought Restrictions. Aquifer levels and springflow: Edwards Aquifer Authority daily aquifer conditions, read 31 August 2026. Figures on this page are re-read against those two sources and re-dated rather than left to age. Stage status: SAWS announcement of 21 September 2026 and the SAWS homepage on 6 October 2026. Stage status: SAWS announcement of 21 September 2026 and the SAWS homepage on 6 October 2026.
What triggers SAWS Stage 3 restrictions?
Stage 3 begins when the 10-day rolling average at the J-17 index well drops to 640 feet above mean sea level. Landscape watering then falls to once a week on the designated day, 5 a.m. to 10 a.m. or 9 p.m. to midnight. San Antonio Pro Landscape schedules San Antonio irrigation accordingly.
What do Stage 3 water restrictions allow for landscape watering?
Stage 3 water restrictions limit landscape watering to once a week on the designated day, 5 a.m. to 10 a.m. or 9 p.m. to midnight. The day is set by the last digit of the street address. Drip irrigation is allowed Monday and Friday in those same hours. San Antonio Pro Landscape schedules San Antonio irrigation around these rules.