{"id":2268,"date":"2026-06-12T10:04:16","date_gmt":"2026-06-12T10:04:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=2268"},"modified":"2026-06-12T10:04:16","modified_gmt":"2026-06-12T10:04:16","slug":"why-raleigh-may-stop-residents-from-watering-their-lawns-completely","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=2268","title":{"rendered":"Why Raleigh may stop residents from watering their lawns completely"},"content":{"rendered":"

AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.<\/p>\n

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Raleigh water customers could see more limits on their use as North Carolina\u2019s drought continues<\/a> and demands on the city\u2019s water infrastructure grow.<\/p>\n

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In April, the city enacted level 1 restrictions<\/u><\/a> that included limiting people with odd-numbered addresses to watering their lawns on Tuesdays and people with even-numbered addresses to Wednesdays.<\/p>\n

Since then, the city has recorded more than 300 violations of water use rules.<\/p>\n

Assistant Director of Raleigh Water Ed Buchan said the city\u2019s hand might be forced into further restrictions that, among other things, could prohibit watering lawns any day of the week, unless people use more water-efficient methods.<\/p>\n

Typically, the city\u2019s water restrictions are tied to the water levels at Falls Lake, the city\u2019s main water reservoir. Depending on the month and how low water levels are at the lake, the city will issue either level 1, 2 or 3 water restrictions.<\/p>\n

Currently, water levels are at 67%, Buchan said. For the city to implement level 2 restrictions in June, the lake would typically need to go down to 45%.<\/p>\n

For reference, Buchan said in April that the lake is usually full at that time of year. Less than two months later, water levels have dropped 33%. And summer has not even officially begun yet.<\/p>\n

Parts of the state benefitted from rain in late May, which broke an eight-month streak of drier-than-normal months, according to the North Carolina State Climate Office\u2019s website.<\/p>\n

Raleigh only got 1.54 inches of rain in May, with seven out of the last nine months in the city seeing less than 2 inches of precipitation, according to the Climate Office.<\/p>\n

The National Weather Service\u2019s Climate Prediction Center forecasts the drought to persist throughout North Carolina in its seasonal drought outlook released May 31.<\/p>\n

It usually takes a couple of inches of rain to change an area\u2019s drought status, said Andrew Kren, meteorologist with the National Weather Service, in a previous interview.<\/p>\n

Raleigh is 19.8 inches below its average rainfall totals from August 2025 to Thursday.<\/p>\n

But Buchan said there\u2019s another reason the city could consider further restrictions, even if water levels don\u2019t drop too much more.<\/p>\n

He said current restrictions, combined with the heat and lack of rainfall, cause water demand to spike on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re seeing irrigation demand we\u2019ve never seen before,\u201d Buchan said. \u201cIt\u2019s a huge demand spike in a very limited amount of time in the morning.\u201d<\/p>\n

Irrigation is by far the biggest driver of water demand, he said. Combined with morning showers, sink usage and other water uses, the Tuesday and Wednesday lawn-watering tests the city\u2019s capacity to pump water.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s like a race,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Though there\u2019s still enough water in Falls Lake to meet demand, the city has to race to pump enough water to households across the city all at once, which is a challenge.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThat might force our hand to go into the next stage before water levels fall,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Stage 2 restrictions prevent people from watering their lawns unless they\u2019re doing it with a handheld hose or with water-efficient drip irrigation.<\/p>\n

Restrictions were put in place April 20, and since then the city has recorded 355 violations<\/a>, according to ABC 11, The News & Observer\u2019s newsgathering partner.<\/p>\n

Most of those are from people watering on days other than Tuesday or Wednesday, Buchan said.<\/p>\n

The city also has sent 244 education letters and issued 10 official warnings.<\/p>\n

Buchan said the city can\u2019t release information about specific water users\u2019 violations or water usage.<\/p>\n

Filling up pools, irrigating athletic fields, pressure washing and car washing are all allowed<\/a> under stage 1 and 2 restrictions, The N&O previously reported.<\/p>\n

To report a violation, call Raleigh Water at 919-996-3245 or email customercare@raleighnc.gov.<\/p>\n

The first violation results in a letter, the second in a $100 fine and the third in a $500 fine.<\/p>\n

If the violations are not resolved, the city may stop water service. You can find more details in the city\u2019s Water Shortage Response Plan on the city\u2019s website, raleighnc.gov<\/u><\/a>.<\/p>\n

Buchan said that most other water uses aren\u2019t really a problem for the city.<\/p>\n

Golf courses often have their own irrigation reservoirs or use reclaimed water from the city, which isn\u2019t drinkable. It\u2019s too expensive for them to use the city\u2019s drinking water to water their grass anyway, Buchan said.<\/p>\n

Most pools don\u2019t hold enough water to make a significant effect on the overall water supply, and most of the time people are just topping off the evaporated water in their mostly full pools anyway, he said.<\/p>\n

Car washes and power washers both use relatively small amounts of water, Buchan said.<\/p>\n

While the city does sell some water to other counties and municipalities, it requires those places to implement their own water restrictions when necessary.<\/p>\n

Durham is implementing its own water restrictions starting Monday<\/u><\/a>, and its water reservoirs feed into Raleigh\u2019s. But Buchan said that won\u2019t help Raleigh much unless Durham\u2019s reservoirs fill up, which would require a very large amount of rainfall.<\/p>\n

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With over 300 violations and shrinking reservoirs, Raleigh may prohibit routine lawn watering to conserve water and protect the city supply during drought.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2267,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2268","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-read-todays-edition"],"yoast_head":"\nWhy Raleigh may stop residents from watering their lawns completely - Durham Moving Hub<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=2268\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Why Raleigh may stop residents from watering their lawns completely - Durham Moving Hub\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"With over 300 violations and shrinking reservoirs, Raleigh may prohibit routine lawn watering to conserve water and protect the city supply during drought.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=2268\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Durham Moving Hub\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-12T10:04:16+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/?p=2268#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/?p=2268\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/bf1f081e7f06a3ab66052e5f6015fd85\"},\"headline\":\"Why Raleigh may stop residents from watering their lawns completely\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-12T10:04:16+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/?p=2268\"},\"wordCount\":899,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/?p=2268#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/0e347f5b0199cf86ce65053ac34438ae.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Read today's Edition\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/?p=2268#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/?p=2268\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/?p=2268\",\"name\":\"Why Raleigh may stop residents from watering their lawns completely - Durham Moving Hub\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/?p=2268#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/?p=2268#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/0e347f5b0199cf86ce65053ac34438ae.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-12T10:04:16+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/bf1f081e7f06a3ab66052e5f6015fd85\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/?p=2268#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/?p=2268\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/?p=2268#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/0e347f5b0199cf86ce65053ac34438ae.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/0e347f5b0199cf86ce65053ac34438ae.jpg\",\"width\":14921,\"height\":11192,\"caption\":\"At a new home constructed on Bragg Street, the newly installed sod is watered in the afternoon sun on Thursday, April 16, 2026 in Raleigh, N.C. 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