Most Dallas-Fort Worth cities let you run sprinklers once or twice a week, on days set by your address or your trash day, and not in the middle of the day. Several cities switched to winter rules on November 1: Plano, Allen, Prosper and Little Elm drop to once a week, and Frisco turns off automatic lawn sprinklers until March 31.
Here’s each city’s current schedule, checked against the official city pages on November 4, 2026. Rules change with drought stages, so use the link for your city to confirm before you set your controller.
“Even” and “odd” go by the last digit of your street address. In most of these cities the limits are on sprinklers and irrigation systems. Hand watering with a hose and drip lines usually have looser rules, covered below.
Dallas watering schedule and restrictions
Dallas allows sprinklers twice a week all year. Addresses ending in an even number water on Sunday and Thursday, odd addresses on Wednesday and Saturday, and properties with no address number use the even days. Since Dallas revised its ordinance in May 2026, sprinklers are banned from 10am to 6pm every day of the year. The ban used to apply only from April through October. Hand watering, soaker hoses and drip irrigation are allowed any time.
Fines run $250 to $2,000 per violation, and a first offense gets a warning.
Fort Worth watering schedule
Fort Worth also allows twice a week all year. Even addresses water Wednesday and Saturday, odd addresses Thursday and Sunday, businesses Tuesday and Friday, and nobody waters on Monday. Sprinklers can’t run from 10am to 6pm, but a hand-held hose is fine any time. Violations go on your water bill: $25, then $50, then $75, and a fourth means a citation and a locked meter.
Plano watering schedule
From November 1 to March 31, Plano asks residents to water no more than once a week: Tuesday for odd addresses, Thursday for even ones. HOAs and addresses ending in 0 follow the even schedule. From April through October it’s twice a week (even Monday and Thursday, odd Tuesday and Friday), with no sprinklers from 10am to 6pm. In winter the city actually suggests running sprinklers during the warmer part of the day, between 10am and 6pm, to avoid ice.
Frisco watering schedule
Frisco has the strictest winter rule in the area: from November 1 to March 31, automatic sprinklers can’t water lawns at all. Hand watering with a shut-off nozzle, drip lines and bubblers for trees and plants are allowed up to 2 hours a day when the weather calls for it.
In spring (April and May) and fall (September and October) you can water once a week on your trash day. In summer (June through August) you can split that watering across your trash day and a second day. Spray and rotor heads can’t run from 10am to 6pm during daylight saving time, and nobody should water below 40 degrees or in the rain. Residential fines are $100, $200 and $300, and the city will waive the first one if you get a free sprinkler checkup within 30 days.
McKinney, Denton and the rest of North Texas
McKinney ties watering to your trash day, with an optional second day three days later (Monday pairs with Thursday, Tuesday with Friday, and so on). From April through October there’s no watering from 10am to 6pm. Fines start with a warning, then $50, $100 and $150. The city’s pages don’t list a separate winter schedule.
Denton waters twice a week year-round: even addresses Tuesday and Saturday, odd addresses Wednesday and Sunday. The 10am-to-6pm ban only applies from June 1 to September 30.
Allen, Prosper and Little Elm all drop to once a week from November 1 to March 31. Southlake is the tightest on hours: automatic sprinklers can only run from 6pm to 10am on your two days. Richardson keeps its two days through winter but drops the daytime ban so systems don’t run in freezing overnight temperatures.
Watering new sod and new plants
New sod and new plants need more water than the schedules allow. Hand watering with a hose is allowed any day in Dallas, Fort Worth, Southlake and Arlington, and Prosper grants a variance of up to 30 days for new sod if you email the city’s water conservation office. Check your own city before anything new goes in. If you’re pricing a new lawn, see what sod costs in DFW and what it takes to keep it alive.
Rebates for replacing grass
Most DFW cities offer free sprinkler checkups but no money for replacing a lawn. Two exceptions as of November 2026:
- Allen has a Turf Conversion Rebate (guidelines updated September 2026): $0.50 per square foot, a 100 sq ft minimum and a $500 yearly cap, with approval required before you start. The new area has to be water-conserving, non-irrigated landscaping such as native plants, mulch or rock. The guidelines don’t say whether artificial turf counts, so ask the city before you plan around it.
- Denton‘s Turf Buy-Back program is closed until March 2027.
Does artificial turf need watering?
No. Turf doesn’t need a watering day, a winter shut-off or a sprinkler checkup. An occasional rinse keeps it clean, and pet areas get rinsed more often (see our turf maintenance guide). If you’re tired of planning around watering days, here’s what artificial turf costs in Dallas-Fort Worth.
Get a free turf quote for your yard
Checked November 4, 2026 against each city’s official water conservation page (linked in the table). We’re a turf installer, not a city office: if your city’s page says something different, the city’s page wins.
