Find the restrictions and rules: Stricter outdoor watering restrictions are coming due to ongoing drought<\/a><\/p>\n Residents who live in the Tampa Bay area, as well as some surrounding counties, will be limited to watering their lawns once a week from April 3 to July 1.<\/p>\n Counties and cities may have their own restrictions<\/a> in place already. <\/p>\n Regular afternoon showers that help replenish the region’s rivers typically pick up around late May or early June. <\/p>\n Because of the current drought, river water, which makes up 40% of the region’s drinking water, is not an available source right now. That’s according to Tampa Bay Water<\/a>, which services Hillsborough, Pinellas and Pasco Counties. <\/p>\n The cities of Tampa, St. Petersburg and New Port Richey also receive water from the supplier. <\/p>\n River flow has dropped dramatically, according to Hogg. The Hillsborough River is about 18 to 19 million gallons a day lower than it should be.<\/p>\n In these conditions, Tampa Bay Water relies on what’s in our reservoirs, desalination plant and ground wells, said Hogg. <\/p>\n The C.W. Bill Young Regional Reservoir in Lithia. <\/p>\n The C.W. Bill Young Regional Reservoir stores excess water from the Hillsborough and Alafia rivers during the rainy summer season and saves it for the dry spring season. <\/p>\n “That’s our water savings account,” said Hogg. <\/p>\n But that savings account is running low. The reservoir can hold up to 15.5 billion gallons. It currently has about 6 billion.<\/p>\n Check current reservoir levels<\/a><\/p>\n Average rainfall was more than a foot short over the last year, which meant the region was drawing from the reservoir’s supply much earlier than usual. <\/p>\n At this time of year, we’d ideally want around 10 billion gallons in the reservoir, Hogg said.<\/p>\n While we can still turn to the desalination plant and ground wells, Hogg said it could mean drawing over the permit limit. <\/p>\n “We won’t run out, but we’re in danger of taking more from the environment than we’re allowed,” said Hogg.<\/p>\n Ground wells extract water from the aquifer<\/a>, underground layers of rock and sand that hold water. Most of the population gets their drinking water from the aquifer, which is replenished by rain.<\/p>\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/1774516701_842_.jpeg\"\/)
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