Under the City of Durham's current drought rules, outdoor water use is restricted.
Stage 2 Water Shortage Response took effect June 15, 2026, and the city's November 2 update confirmed it is still in force. The city's own planning document says the next stage would remove hand watering too. City water staff now describe that next stage as close.
Stage 2 restrictions
Stage 2 bans spray irrigation of landscapes with City water. The city issues no new exemptions while the shortage declaration is in effect.
In August, ABC11 reported that staff at Stone Brothers & Byrd, a Durham garden center, were hand-watering plants three or four times a day. They also turned the water on first thing in the morning, before the sun got high.
Enforcement of the rules
Stage 2 reaches well past the lawn, with restrictions on washing cars and exterior surfaces, and filling decorative fountains and ponds.
Enforcement follows a set sequence in the city FAQ: a warning, then a notice of violation with no fine, then a $100 fine, then a $250 fine, then disconnection of water service. By the time of ABC11's August 21 story, the city had received 320 reports of violations, most of them about sprinkler systems still running. By the November 2 update, the count had reached 475 reports, with 17 violations issued since June 15.
Why the rules last longer than a good rain
Water is now reaching Durham taps through more routes than usual. The city's November 2 update lists four sources:
- Lake Michie and Little River Reservoir, Durham's own reservoirs.
- Part of Durham's Jordan Lake allocation, bought through the Town of Cary.
- Teer Quarry, which the city is pumping.
- The Orange Water and Sewer Authority, from which Durham began buying water on November 2.
The Jordan Lake route goes through Cary for a reason. WRAL reported that Durham has no infrastructure to draw and treat its Jordan Lake allocation itself. Cary treats the water and sends it through connections between the two systems. In July, CBS 17 reported that crews had started pumping Teer Quarry, a supply the city hadn't used in almost 20 years.
The city's June notice says Stage 2 stays in place until both reservoirs are full again. According to Southpoint Access, City figures dated November 5 put combined storage at 31%, down from 33% four days earlier. Readily accessible reservoir water fell from 83 days to 79 over the same stretch. The National Weather Service measured 1.07 inches of rain at Raleigh-Durham International Airport during the storms that came after those figures. Rain at the airport isn't a direct measure of what reached the Lake Michie and Little River watersheds.
The same Southpoint Access report put total estimated supply at 147 days. That figure includes water below the intake structures and Teer Quarry's emergency storage, and the outlet called these planning estimates, not a countdown to dry taps. The NC Drought Management Advisory Council listed Durham County in D2, Severe Drought, as of November 3.
The step after this one
City water officials sound different now than they did in August. In ABC11's August 21 story, Durham water officials said they did not expect Stage 3 that year. They hoped the rest of hurricane season and winter rain would bring enough water. By early November, the city's update was calling Stage 3 a possibility. Joe Lunne, a senior public information and communications analyst for Durham Water Management, explained the trigger to WRAL. The city would move to Stage 3 if forecasts showed at least a 10% chance that combined reservoir storage could drop to 25% within eight weeks.
"While we are getting close to hitting the trigger for Stage 3, we aren't there yet."
Durham's Water Shortage Response Plan, last updated in December 2016, lets the City Manager put a stage in place early or delay lifting one, and stages don't have to go in order.
Where the current numbers are posted
Durham Water Management posts updates on the city's Stage 2 page, including storage levels, days of supply and any change in stage. The city also takes violation reports through an online form and through Durham One Call at 919-560-1200. The city FAQ covers definitions such as what counts as hand watering. The rules apply to City-supplied water. Durham serves customers throughout the city and in parts of Durham County.
This post is general information, not legal advice. For questions about how the ordinance applies to a specific property, contact Durham Water Management or another qualified professional.
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