Guelph’s Outside Water Use Rules, Explained for Lawn Owners (2026 Update)

How the level system works

Guelph’s Outside Water Use Program moves between levels as water supply changes. Level 0 (Blue) is normal conditions with baseline rules. Level 1 (Yellow) tightens the schedule during dry stretches — Guelph moved to Yellow during the dry summers of 2025, for example. Level 2 (Red) means serious supply pressure, and lawn watering is off the table entirely.

The 2026 update: address days and time windows

Under the updated bylaw, lawn watering follows your municipal address: even-numbered addresses water on even-numbered calendar dates, odd-numbered addresses on odd dates. Watering is limited to a maximum of four hours on your day, and only during the low-evaporation windows — between midnight and 9 a.m., or between 5 p.m. and midnight.

Those windows aren’t arbitrary. Midday watering in July can lose a third or more of the water to evaporation before it reaches the roots. The bylaw is essentially forcing the schedule a good lawn company would recommend anyway.

How to keep a lawn green inside these rules

• Water deeply on your address day rather than lightly whenever you remember — deep, infrequent watering grows the roots that survive restrictions.
• Mow at 3 inches. Taller grass shades the soil and needs meaningfully less water.
• Let the lawn go golden in a hot, dry August if you’d rather not water — dormancy is survival mode, not death, and the lawn recovers with September rain.
• New sod or seed? The city has historically offered lawn watering permits for new lawns — check guelph.ca for current details before assuming.