Lawn water restrictions in place for South Central Hillsborough County through end of June

TAMPA, Fla. - On Wednesday, Hillsborough County Public Utilities announced new irrigation hours for the south-central area of the county in an effort to conserve water and maintain water pressure during high demand periods.
 

The temporary ordinance limits lawn watering to 8:30 a.m. - noon and 6 p.m. - midnight on allowable irrigation days.

Watering the lawn at residential or commercial properties from midnight to 8 a.m. is not allowed. The restriction on watering days is still in effect countywide. A full listing of irrigation restrictions is available here.
 
The lawn watering ordinance impacts residences and commercial properties in the south-central area of Hillsborough County, which includes the communities of Apollo Beach and Sun City Center and properties located south of the Alafia River and west of Balm Riverview Road and State Road 579. This ordinance doesn’t impact county residential or commercial properties outside of this area.
 
The temporary ordinance takes effect on May 6 and expires June 30 to coincide with the rainy season. The county is providing a grace period until May 12 to allow residents to update the timers on their irrigation systems.
 
The Hillsborough County Board of County Commissioners unanimously approved the ordinance during a regular board hearing on May 6. Last month, the Southwest Florida Water Management District reviewed and supported the county’s proposal to change the irrigation hours in the south-central area of the county.
 
According to Hillsborough County, the south-central water system is experiencing low pressure during peak water use times and the new irrigation times will offset the high demands that contribute to the lower water pressure.
 
County officials said if no action were taken, extremely low-pressure scenarios could result in precautionary boil water notices for customers in the south-central area of the county. It also could impact the water pressure at fire hydrants, which could affect the County’s ability to combat fires in the area.
 
 The county is in the process of designing and constructing a booster pump station to address the low-pressure issues for this area of the distribution system. Construction is scheduled to be completed by October 2022.
 
 Visit HCFLGov.net/WaterRestrictions to view the County map showing the irrigation restriction area, review the permitted irrigation days for residential and commercial properties.