{"id":78892,"date":"2026-09-08T17:55:21","date_gmt":"2026-09-08T21:55:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/?p=78892"},"modified":"2026-09-08T17:55:27","modified_gmt":"2026-09-08T21:55:27","slug":"lakeland-phase-3-water-restrictions-extended","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/2026\/09\/08\/lakeland-phase-3-water-restrictions-extended\/","title":{"rendered":"Lakeland Phase 3 Water Restrictions Extended"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

The City of Lakeland enforcement of Phase 3 Water Shortage Restrictions<\/strong> was implemented following an order by the Southwest Florida Water Management District (SWFWMD) due to significant rainfall deficits and low groundwater levels across the region.<\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Originally enacted on April 3, 2026, these regional restrictions have been extended through October 1, 2026<\/strong>. Local utility and law enforcement agencies issue direct citations for first infractions without courtesy warnings.<\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Key Rules & Irrigation Schedule<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

1. One-Day-a-Week Lawn Irrigation Schedule<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Allowed watering days are determined by the last digit of your house address:<\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last Digit of Address<\/strong><\/td>Designated Watering Day<\/strong><\/td><\/tr><\/thead>
0 or 1<\/strong><\/td>Monday<\/td><\/tr>
2 or 3<\/strong><\/td>Tuesday<\/td><\/tr>
4 or 5<\/strong><\/td>Wednesday<\/td><\/tr>
6 or 7<\/strong><\/td>Thursday<\/td><\/tr>
8 or 9<\/strong><\/td>Friday<\/td><\/tr>
No address \/ Common areas<\/strong><\/td>Friday only<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

2. Time Restrictions<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
  • Properties under 1 acre:<\/strong> Must irrigate either before 4:00 AM<\/strong> OR after 8:00 PM<\/strong> (12:01 AM\u20134:00 AM or 8:00 PM\u201311:59 PM)\u2014you cannot water during both windows on your designated day.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Properties 1 acre or larger:<\/strong> May utilize both watering windows (before 4:00 AM and after 8:00 PM) on their designated day if needed.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

    3. Specific Uses & Guidelines<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

      \n
    • Hand Watering & Micro-irrigation:<\/strong> Allowed on any day for non-lawn landscape plants, but only before 8:00 AM or after 6:00 PM.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • Vehicle Washing:<\/strong> Non-commercial washing at home is restricted to your designated lawn-watering day and should be parked on the lawn to minimize runoff. An automatic shut-off nozzle is required.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • Prohibited Uses:<\/strong> Cleaning driveways, sidewalks, or hard surfaces with water is banned except strictly for urgent health or safety reasons. Non-profit car wash fundraisers are prohibited.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • HOA Guidelines:<\/strong> Homeowners associations are prohibited by regional rules from penalizing residents or requiring lawn watering that violates the emergency schedule.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

      The amendment\u00a0establishes\u00a0enforcement and appeal procedures for watering violations, including fines of $50 for a first violation, $200 for a second violation, and $500 for third and\u00a0subsequent\u00a0violations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      The City of Lakeland enforcement of Phase 3 Water Shortage Restrictions was implemented following an order by the Southwest Florida Water Management District (SWFWMD) due to significant rainfall deficits and… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":78893,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":0,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","inline_featured_image":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"wpai_generated_summary":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"dois","default_image_id":71799,"font":"","enabled":true,"token":"eyJpbWciOiJodHRwczpcL1wvaTAud3AuY29tXC9sYWtlbGFuZGdhemV0dGUuaW5mb1wvbmV3c1wvd3AtY29udGVudFwvdXBsb2Fkc1wvMjAyNlwvMDlcL2ltYWdlcy0zLTEud2VicD9maXQ9NDQ3JTJDNDQ3JnNzbD0xIiwidHh0IjoiTGFrZWxhbmQgUGhhc2UgMyBXYXRlciBSZXN0cmljdGlvbnMgRXh0ZW5kZWQiLCJ0ZW1wbGF0ZSI6ImRvaXMiLCJmb250IjoiIiwiYmxvZ19pZCI6MTYzMDQwNjYxfQ.lazHRWfQ7UbpA6R7_r8ybxsaYfjGZ_rgziR_m1MoUecMQ"},"version":2,"media_source":"sig","attached_media":[{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/jetpack.com\/redirect\/?source=sigenerate&query=t%3DeyJpbWciOiJodHRwczpcL1wvbGFrZWxhbmRnYXpldHRlLmluZm9cL25ld3NcL3dwLWNvbnRlbnRcL3VwbG9hZHNcLzIwMjZcLzA5XC9pbWFnZXMtMy0xLndlYnAiLCJ0eHQiOiJMYWtlbGFuZCBQaGFzZSAzIFdhdGVyIFJlc3RyaWN0aW9ucyBFeHRlbmRlZCAiLCJ0ZW1wbGF0ZSI6ImRvaXMiLCJmb250IjoiIiwiYmxvZ19pZCI6MTYzMDQwNjYxfQ.3EsklxaEO2jiAF--p5SZXtsBTODqfELaX7-8K4nGvAkMQ","type":"image\/jpeg"}]},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false},"categories":[12,14],"tags":[15179,16887,16889,16657,16656,16888,16890],"class_list":["post-78892","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local","category-news","tag-lakeland-florida","tag-lakeland-water-restrictions","tag-lawn-irrigation-schedule","tag-swfwmd","tag-water-conservation","tag-water-shortage","tag-watering-fines"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78892","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=78892"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78892\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":78894,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78892\/revisions\/78894"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/78893"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=78892"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=78892"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=78892"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}