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.
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, and Stage 3. 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 (Always in Effect)
Regardless of what drought stage SAWS is currently in, these rules apply at all times in San Antonio. No irrigation is permitted between 10 AM and 8 PM from May 1 through September 30. This rule exists because midday irrigation loses significant water to evaporation — watering at 2 PM in July means roughly 30 to 40 percent of the water you apply never reaches the soil. Hand watering with a hose and shut-off nozzle is permitted at any time. Soaker hoses and drip irrigation systems are permitted at any time because they deliver water directly to the soil with minimal evaporation loss. No irrigation runoff onto sidewalks, driveways, streets, or neighboring properties at any time.
Stage 1 Restrictions
Stage 1 is triggered when the Edwards Aquifer drops below 660 feet mean sea level. Under Stage 1, landscape irrigation with sprinklers is limited to once per week on your designated watering day, which is assigned by your street address. Even-numbered addresses water on one designated day, odd-numbered addresses water on another. Drip irrigation and soaker hoses remain unrestricted. Hand watering with a shut-off nozzle remains unrestricted.
Stage 1 is the most common restriction level in San Antonio. In practical terms, it means your sprinkler system runs once per week on your assigned day, during the allowed hours before 10 AM or after 8 PM from May through September.
Stage 2 Restrictions
Stage 2 is triggered when the Edwards Aquifer drops below 650 feet. Under Stage 2, landscape irrigation with sprinklers is limited to once every other week on your designated 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.
Drip irrigation remains unrestricted under Stage 2, which is one of the primary reasons we recommend drip systems for all landscape bed irrigation in San Antonio. Properties with drip irrigation on landscape beds and spray heads only on turf areas maintain significantly better appearance during Stage 2 than properties running spray irrigation on everything.
Stage 3 Restrictions
Stage 3 is triggered when the Edwards Aquifer drops below 640 feet. Under Stage 3, all sprinkler and irrigation system use is prohibited. Only hand watering with a hose and shut-off nozzle is permitted, and only on designated watering days. This is the most severe restriction level, and it has been activated multiple times in recent San Antonio history.
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. First violations typically receive a written warning. Subsequent violations during the same restriction period result in fines that start at $50 and escalate with repeated offenses. Commercial properties face higher fine schedules. Beyond the financial penalties, repeated violations can result in flow restrictors being installed on your water meter — a significant disruption to normal water use.
Irrigation System Design for SAWS Compliance
Every irrigation system we install in San Antonio is designed for SAWS compliance from the initial design phase. We use smart controllers with SAWS-compatible programming on every installation. We install rain sensors that automatically interrupt irrigation when rainfall has occurred. We design separate zones for turf areas using spray heads and landscape beds using drip irrigation so that bed irrigation can continue unrestricted even when sprinkler restrictions tighten. And we update controller programming for our maintenance customers at no charge 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.
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