Wichita’s permanent water restrictions start Sept. 15. Here’s what that means
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- Wichita enacts permanent outdoor watering limits starting September 15, 2025.
- Residents restricted to watering lawns three days weekly based on address number.
- City emphasizes education over enforcement, citing few violations and fines.
Every-other-day watering restrictions will soon be a reality for Wichita water customers.
The Wichita City Council voted for an early end to the once-a-week watering schedule in its drought response plan and approved permanent outdoor watering restrictions at its meeting Tuesday.
The new, three-day-a-week restrictions will start Sept. 15.
The City Council approved the permanent restrictions in a 4-3 vote. The three members who voted against it — Mayor Lily Wu, Becky Tuttle and Maggie Ballard — all said they support water conservation but objected based on the Sept. 15 start, a date picked during the meeting by Vice Mayor J.V. Johnston.
Gary Janzen, director of Wichita’s public works and utilities, recommended continuing to follow the city’s drought response plan and moving into the thrice weekly watering schedule when the 12-month average of Cheney Lake’s water levels reached 70%, which is not expected until October at the earliest.
Wu said she wanted to have a town hall meeting before voting on the restrictions, but she had no support from the council to delay the vote. Ballard said she worried Sept. 15 was too early. Tuttle expressed the same concerns as Ballard and said she would support restricting outdoor watering to two or fewer days a week.
City Manager Robert Layton said he believes the city’s drought response plan helped conserve water during the drought.
“All of our education efforts have made a difference,” Layton said. “A lot of the calls and people that stopped me and talked to me about it are actually concerned about people they see watering outside of the cycle or watering in the middle of the day or watering during rain storms. . . . And so I think more and more people are upset about the lack of proper conservation by residents and businesses. I’ve had people urge me to get more aggressive in enforcing the restrictions.”
The permanent restrictions say:
- Addresses that end in odd numbers may water only on Wednesday, Friday and Sunday
- Addresses that end in even numbers may water only on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday
- No watering on Mondays
- No watering between the hours of 10 a.m. and 6 p.m.
Hand watering would still be allowed on any day, and restrictions would not apply to well water users.
The city is not adding any staff to enforce the new ordinance and will focus on education, Janzen said.
In 2024, the city issued 535 warning letters and issued 16 citations for a total of $800. This year, the city has sent 197 warning letters and fined six violators for a total of $300.
The city’s wholesale customers must also comply with three-times-a-week watering restrictions, Janzen said.
The change comes as conditions at Cheney Reservoir, the city’s main water source, have improved.
Cheney was 62% full when the city began phase two drought restrictions last year. But heavy rainfall earlier this year nearly restored the reservoir, which is now sitting at 99.8% full, according to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
This story was originally published August 18, 2025 at 4:14 AM.