Last verified: October 6, 2026, against San Antonio Water System (SAWS).
The San Antonio Water System — SAWS — manages water supply for the entire San Antonio metro area and enforces year-round watering restrictions that directly affect how you irrigate your lawn and landscape. Understanding these restrictions is not optional — SAWS issues fines for violations, and more importantly, designing your irrigation system and landscape around these restrictions from the start is the difference between a property that stays healthy year-round and one that struggles every summer.
Current status, verified October 6, 2026: SAWS is in Stage 3. SAWS announced the return to Stage 3 on September 21, 2026, and its homepage reads “Stage 3 Rules in Effect”. Stage 2 and Stage 3 impose the same once-weekly schedule and the same hours. Sprinkler and soaker-hose watering is allowed only once a week on your assigned watering day, and only from 5 to 10 AM or 9 PM to midnight. Drip irrigation and tree bubblers run on Mondays and Fridays during those same hours, and hand watering with a hand-held hose is allowed any time. Confirm the active stage at saws.org before setting a controller.
This guide covers the current SAWS restriction stages, what each stage means for your irrigation schedule, and how to keep your lawn and landscape healthy within the rules.
How SAWS Watering Restrictions Work
SAWS operates a staged restriction system that escalates based on water supply conditions, primarily the level of the Edwards Aquifer which supplies most of San Antonio’s drinking water. The restriction stages are Year-Round, Stage 1, Stage 2, Stage 3 and Stage 4. Each stage imposes increasingly strict limits on outdoor irrigation.
The key thing San Antonio homeowners need to understand is that some level of watering restriction is always in effect. There is no unrestricted period in San Antonio — even the Year-Round baseline rules limit when and how you can irrigate.
Year-Round Watering Rules (When No Drought Stage Is Declared)
These are the rules when San Antonio is not under any drought stage. Landscape watering with an irrigation system or sprinkler is permitted any day of the week from midnight to 10 a.m. or 9 p.m. to midnight. Watering with a hand-held hose, soaker hose or bucket is permitted any time of day. Watering with drip irrigation is permitted any day of the week in those same midnight to 10 a.m. and 9 p.m. to midnight windows. Water waste is prohibited at all times, including allowing water to run off into a gutter, ditch or drain.
Stage 1 Restrictions
Stage 1 restrictions begin when the 10-day rolling average of the Edwards Aquifer level drops to 660 feet mean sea level at the monitored well. Under Stage 1, landscape watering with an irrigation system, sprinkler or soaker hose is allowed only once a week, midnight to 10 a.m. and 9 p.m. to midnight, on your designated watering day, which is assigned by your address. Drip irrigation and tree bubbler zones are permitted Monday, Wednesday and Friday in those hours. Hand watering with a hand-held hose, bucket or watering can is allowed any time and any day.
In practical terms, under Stage 1 your sprinkler system runs once per week on your assigned day, in the midnight to 10 a.m. or 9 p.m. to midnight windows.
Stage 2 Restrictions
Stage 2 restrictions begin when the 10-day rolling average of the Edwards Aquifer level reaches 650 feet mean sea level at the monitored well. Under Stage 2, landscape watering with an irrigation system, sprinkler or soaker hose is allowed only once a week, from 5 to 10 a.m. and 9 p.m. to midnight, on your designated watering day. This is where lawn maintenance becomes significantly more challenging, particularly for St. Augustine grass which requires more water than Bermuda or Zoysia to maintain healthy appearance.
Under Stage 2, drip irrigation and tree bubbler zones are permitted Monday and Friday, only from 5 to 10 a.m. and 9 p.m. to midnight. That is one reason drip systems on landscape beds are recommended in San Antonio: properties with drip on beds and spray heads only on turf areas keep a better appearance during drought stages than properties running spray irrigation on everything.
Stage 3 Restrictions
Stage 3 restrictions begin when the 10-day rolling average of the Edwards Aquifer drops to 640 feet. SAWS announced the return to Stage 3 on September 21, 2026, and Stage 3 is in effect now. Sprinkler and soaker-hose watering is allowed only once a week on your assigned day, and only from 5 to 10 AM or 9 PM to midnight. Drip irrigation and tree bubblers are limited to Mondays and Fridays during those hours, while hand watering with a hand-held hose remains allowed at any time. Single-family customers pay a drought surcharge of $10.37 per thousand gallons on use above 20,000 gallons a month. Stage 4, declared at the City Manager’s discretion, allows landscape watering only once every other week. Check the stage in force at saws.org rather than assuming it from the season.
During Stage 3, lawns are going to stress regardless of grass type. The homeowners who come through Stage 3 with their landscape intact are the ones who designed for drought resilience from the beginning — drought-tolerant grass varieties, drip irrigation on landscape beds, and native plants that survive on rainfall alone.
How to Keep Your Lawn Healthy Under SAWS Restrictions
The best strategy for maintaining a healthy lawn under SAWS restrictions starts with decisions made before restrictions tighten. Grass selection matters — Bermuda and Zoysia handle restricted watering significantly better than St. Augustine. Mowing height matters — taller grass retains more moisture and shades the soil, so raise your mowing height by half an inch during restriction periods. Irrigation timing matters — water in the early morning before 10 AM when evaporation is lowest and soil absorption is highest.
If your property has an older irrigation system with fixed-schedule controllers and all spray heads, a smart controller upgrade combined with converting landscape bed zones to drip irrigation is the single highest-impact improvement you can make for SAWS compliance and water efficiency. Smart controllers automatically adjust irrigation based on weather conditions and can be programmed to comply with each SAWS stage. The upgrade typically pays for itself in water savings within one to two years.
SAWS Fines and Enforcement
SAWS enforces watering restrictions through patrols and complaint-based reporting. A documented violation is handled as a charge on the water bill, and the amounts change, so confirm the current figure with SAWS rather than relying on any contractor’s website. Water waste, including runoff and overspray onto pavement, is prohibited at all times.
Irrigation System Design for SAWS Compliance
A system that complies with SAWS rules starts at the design stage, and in Texas a TCEQ-licensed irrigator does that design and the installation. Ask for smart controllers set to SAWS-compatible schedules and rain sensors that interrupt irrigation after rainfall. Ask for turf areas on spray heads and landscape beds on drip, in separate zones, so bed watering can continue when sprinkler restrictions tighten. And ask who will reprogram the controller whenever SAWS moves between restriction stages.
If your current irrigation system makes SAWS compliance difficult or if you are receiving violation notices, contact San Antonio Pro Landscape for a free irrigation assessment. We serve all of San Antonio and Bexar County including Stone Oak, Alamo Heights, Helotes, Schertz, New Braunfels, Leon Valley, and the surrounding communities.
If you are working out whether your assigned watering day is actually enough to carry a lawn through a South Texas summer, the deciding factor is usually the system rather than the schedule. A sprinkler layout that loses much of its output to overspray, mismatched heads or midday evaporation will not keep turf alive on one day a week no matter how carefully the rules are followed. Our irrigation page covers how to check what yours is really delivering, and lawn mowing and care explains the mowing height and routine that help a lawn hold moisture between permitted days.
What hours does SAWS prohibit sprinkler irrigation in San Antonio?
SAWS year-round rules prohibit irrigation between 10 AM and 8 PM from May 1 through September 30, because midday watering loses water to evaporation. Hand watering with a hose and shut-off nozzle, soaker hoses, and drip irrigation are permitted at any time. San Antonio Pro Landscape helps San Antonio homeowners keep lawns and landscapes healthy within these rules.
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