Cinco Ranch Watering Schedule: Who Sets Your Days in 77450 and 77494
Your mail says Katy, but your watering days usually come from your water district. Here's how to find yours in 77450 and 77494, check for a drought stage, and set your timer to match.
Search "Cinco Ranch watering schedule" and one of the top results can be the City of Katy's water conservation page. If you live in Cinco Ranch, which spans 77450 and 77494, or almost anywhere else in either ZIP, those aren't the rules to go by. Your mail says Katy, but according to the 2020 Census, no part of 77450 is inside Katy city limits, and only about 1 in 20 housing units in 77494 is.
A Katy address doesn't mean City of Katy water
Water in 77450, and in most of 77494, comes from local water districts, mostly municipal utility districts (MUDs), and each district sets its own drought watering schedule. That's why two homes in the same ZIP, even in the same master-planned community, can be on different watering days.
The main exceptions are in 77494, where Young Ranch, Woodcreek Reserve, The Reserve at Katy and Avalon at Spring Green are inside Katy city limits. If your water bill comes from the City of Katy, its water conservation rules are yours.
Which water authority is your district in?
77450 straddles the Harris and Fort Bend county line. About two thirds of its land is in Harris County, and appraisal district records put about 7 in 10 of the ZIP's roughly 20,000 single-family homes on the Harris side. The line even runs through Cinco Ranch: North Lake Village, Meadow Place, Equestrian Village and Greenway Village all have homes on both sides of it.
But your regional water authority doesn't always follow the county line:
- North Fort Bend Water Authority (NFBWA): the Cinco MUDs, the Grand Lakes MUDs and Cornerstones MUD. In 77494, add the Cinco Southwest MUDs, Harris-Fort Bend MUD 1 and many Fort Bend County MUDs.
- West Harris County Regional Water Authority (WHCRWA): Nottingham Country MUD (its neighborhood list includes Kelliwood Gardens, Kelliwood Lakes, Kelliwood Place, Lake Forest, Parklake Village and Highland Trails), Memorial MUD, West Memorial MUD, Cimarron MUD, Interstate MUD and Harris County MUD 81. In 77494, add the City of Katy, Woodcreek Reserve MUD and Harris-Fort Bend MUD 3.
Cornerstones MUD, which serves Creekstone, Cornerstone Place, Chesterfield and Cinco Ranch North Lake Village sections 6, 7, 8 and 11, has portions in both counties and participates in NFBWA. Some Kelliwood sections are on the Fort Bend side, so don't go by a neighborhood name alone. The surest answer is your water bill, which should name the district that serves you.
Cinco Ranch watering schedules in 77450 and 77494: different districts, different days
Three real schedules from these two ZIPs show how much the rules differ. None is a current order.
| District and stage | Even addresses | Odd addresses | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cinco MUD 6, voluntary Stage 1 (September 2023) | Sundays and Thursdays | Saturdays and Wednesdays | Only midnight to 10 a.m. or 8 p.m. to midnight |
| Cornerstones MUD, mild drought (plan summary) | Wednesdays and Sundays | Tuesdays and Saturdays | No outdoor watering 7 to 10 a.m. or 6 to 10 p.m. |
| City of Katy, mandatory Stage 2 (drought plan) | Mondays, Wednesdays and Sundays for all homes | Only midnight to 8 a.m. or 8 p.m. to 11:59 p.m. | |
Even the even-address days don't line up. The Cinco MUD 6 notice followed an NFBWA Stage 1 declaration. The Cornerstones days come from the district's posted summary of a 2012 drought plan, which may have been amended since. The City's days come from its drought plan, Ordinance 3138.
On the WHCRWA side, Nottingham Country MUD adopted an amended and restated drought contingency plan on March 18, 2024. Get its watering days straight from the district.
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How to check whether a watering stage is in effect
- Your district's website and notices. As of October 1, 2026, the 2026 news posts on cincomuds.org, the Cinco MUDs' shared site, covered rain sensors and watering tips, with no drought-stage notice.
- The City of Katy, if it's your water provider. On August 21, 2026, it posted a voluntary Stage 1 (Mild) notice: no set days, but it asks customers to water only from midnight to 8 a.m. or 8 p.m. to 11:59 p.m.
- WHCRWA's drought page. As of October 1, 2026, the newest notice on its drought page, posted November 9, 2023, withdrew Stage 1 effective November 8, 2023.
- TCEQ's list of water systems limiting use. As of TCEQ's list generated September 16, 2026, none of the water districts serving 77450 appeared on it. Cinco MUD 14, which serves most of Cinco Ranch West in 77494, was on it with a mandatory watering schedule reported June 1, 2026, so if that's your district, check with it directly. Systems report to that list themselves, so treat it as a starting point.
Setting your controller to your district's days and hours
- Days. If a stage is in effect, use the days assigned to your address. If not, check whether your district has standing rules, then water by what the lawn needs.
- Hours. Add up every zone's run time, including repeat cycles, and make sure the program ends before a restricted window starts. Under the mild-drought hours in Cornerstones' plan summary, a pre-dawn program has to finish before 7 a.m. When your district's window is stricter than a general rule of thumb, the district wins.
- Extra start times. Check every program and start time, because a leftover one can run outside your window.
- Amounts. Texas A&M AgriLife's St. Augustine guide says to wet the soil 6 inches deep, time it with a can test, and split the run into shorter cycles when water starts running off. For how often, see our Katy lawn watering guide and fall schedule tips.
Why a water authority fee is on your bill
Both regional authorities set fees per 1,000 gallons. NFBWA says water providers pass its fee through on residents' bills, and most add a markup. If your bill jumped and your schedule hasn't changed, our post on high water bills and sprinkler leaks walks through a five-minute meter test.
Cinco Ranch I HOA note: public water only
If your home is covered by Cinco Ranch I's association (CRPA), its April 2026 Architectural Guidelines allow only the public water supply for lot irrigation. Private irrigation wells aren't allowed, and neither is drawing water from creeks, ponds or canals. The same guidelines list "adequate irrigation (automatic systems encouraged)" as recommended maintenance. Planning changes to the system itself? CRPA requires ARC approval first, which we cover in who can repair a sprinkler system in Cinco Ranch. Cinco Ranch homes west of Katy-Gaston Road (Cinco Southwest and Cinco Northwest) are in a separate HOA, Cinco Ranch Residential Association II, so check its rules instead.
Want your timer set to your district's schedule?
We're a family-owned Katy irrigation company led by TCEQ Licensed Irrigator #18069, and timer programming is part of our $75 full system evaluation: we inspect every zone, give you a written estimate, and program your timer for the season. Tell us who provides your water and its current rules, and we'll set your days and start times to fit. If the controller is the problem, a Rain Bird TM2 is $300 (6-zone) or $350 (8-zone), and a Rachio smart controller is $425 (8-station) or $525 (16-station). Something broken? Our $125 same-day service visit gets it diagnosed, and you approve the flat-rate repair price first.
Every rate is on our pricing page, and you can book online any time. We handle sprinkler repair across Katy, including Cinco Ranch, plus the rest of our service areas.