By KENT DAVISON | Local News | April 27, 2026

RALEIGH — The city of Raleigh this week implemented Stage 1 water-use restrictions in response to what officials are calling a severe drought, directing residents to water their lawns only on assigned days, only between midnight and 10 a.m., and only after confirming their address is odd, even, or neither, which is not a category the city has addressed.

“It’s very simple,” said Ed Buchan, the city’s environmental coordinator. “If your address ends in an odd number, you water on Tuesdays and Saturdays. If it ends in an even number, you water on Wednesdays and Sundays. If your address ends in a letter, a fraction, or a directional designation such as ‘A’ or ‘North,’ we encourage you to call the main number on our website, which has not been updated.”

Residents who water between 10 a.m. and midnight — a 14-hour window covering most hours during which people are awake and capable of operating a hose — will be in violation. “We’re not trying to make this difficult,” Buchan said.

The restrictions apply to all Raleigh water customers, as well as residents of Garner, Wake Forest, Rolesville, Knightdale, Wendell, and Zebulon, who rely on city water and were notified of the changes via a press release issued to media outlets they do not read.

Several Cameron Park residents said they had received the news with what one described as “a kind of focused calm that comes from having dead lawns and not entirely understanding what ‘odd’ means in this context.”

“My address is 2714,” said the resident, who asked not to be identified. “That’s pretty normal. Nothing odd about it. I was a sociology major.”

Enforcement will be “complaint-driven,” a phrase that residents of several neighborhoods interpreted differently depending on the neighborhood.

The data center running the AI that created the algorithm for the restrictions is not subject to water restrictions, according to Buchan.

Restrictions are expected to remain in place through at least June, but possibly shorter, depending on blowback.

The briefing ended at 10 a.m.

Kent Davison covers local government, infrastructure, and water access for Ungrammared. He can be reached by people who have his number, provided they call before 10 a.m.