Florida Water Restrictions 2026

Water restrictions across Florida right now

Florida entered 2026 facing one of its most aggressive statewide water restriction regimes in more than a decade. The Southwest Florida Water Management District, known as SWFWMD or Swiftmud, declared a Modified Phase III Severe Water Shortage effective April 3, 2026, covering at least eleven counties in the Tampa Bay region. The trigger was a staggering 13.7-inch regional rainfall deficit — a shortfall that has drained the Hillsborough River Reservoir to critically low operational levels and pushed the Starkey Wellfield in Pasco County to reduced pumping capacity.

Under Modified Phase III, most residential customers in the affected area are limited to one day per week of landscape irrigation, and that single day must fall within restricted early-morning or late-evening hours. Eighteen of the 28 cities tracked by Florida water authorities are currently operating under emergency-level restrictions, including Bradenton, Clearwater, Dunedin, Lakeland, Cape Coral, and Tampa. Dunedin has taken the exceptional step of declaring Modified Phase III Extreme Water Shortage conditions, layering additional prohibitions on top of the district mandate.

Cape Coral presents a particularly complicated picture. The northeastern quadrant of the city, where residents rely on private wells rather than the municipal water supply, has been pushed to Modified Phase IV — a level that effectively bans most outdoor watering entirely and activates emergency drought response protocols. Cape Coral officials are coordinating with SWFWMD and Lee County utilities to monitor aquifer pressure in that corridor.

To the south, the South Florida Water Management District issued drought advisories for Collier and Lee counties. Bonita Springs and Naples are operating under Year-Round Irrigation Rules combined with active 2026 Drought Warnings, restricting landscaping to twice weekly and prohibiting daytime irrigation between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. Fort Myers is similarly constrained, with Year-Round two-day-per-week watering rules now reinforced by the drought advisory overlay.

On Florida's east coast and in the north, the picture is somewhat less dire but not without concern. Fort Lauderdale, Miami, and Jacksonville remain under mandatory Year-Round two-day-per-week restrictions — their baseline permanent conservation rules — without the emergency overlay currently applied to the Gulf Coast. Gainesville, straddling the Suwannee River Water Management District and the St. Johns River Water Management District, is navigating a Phase II Water Shortage declaration limiting irrigation to one day per week under the SRWMD framework.

The Florida Department of Environmental Protection has placed the state on a coordinated multi-district drought watch, urging water utilities across all five water management districts to accelerate demand reduction and stress-test emergency supply agreements before the traditional wet season begins in late June.

Fines and enforcement in Florida

Florida water restriction enforcement operates on two tracks: the water management district's own enforcement authority and the local utility or municipality's code enforcement system. Chapter 373 authorizes SWFWMD to issue administrative fines of up to $10,000 per day per violation for commercial or large-scale violators. For residential customers, local utility ordinances typically govern the fine schedule, and most municipalities in the Tampa Bay area have adopted graduated penalty structures that escalate sharply for repeat offenders.

In Clearwater, the first offense during a declared water shortage triggers a written warning. A second offense results in a $75 fine. A third offense within a 12-month window carries a $150 penalty, and a fourth or subsequent offense can result in a $300 citation plus referral to the city's code enforcement board, which has authority to require mandatory installation of a flow-limiting device on the customer's meter. Tampa operates under a similar structure, with fines beginning at $100 for a first citation during Phase III conditions, rising to $200 for a second, and $500 for a third, with potential service restriction on further violations.

Enforcement is complaint-driven at the residential level in most jurisdictions, but field inspectors from utility departments also conduct scheduled patrols during declared shortages, typically targeting early-morning hours when illegal irrigation is most likely to occur. Pinellas County utilities began deploying vehicle-mounted digital cameras in 2024 to document violations photographically, making contested citations easier to adjudicate at the code enforcement board level.

Advanced metering infrastructure — smart meters — have transformed enforcement in several Florida utilities. Tampa Bay Water's member governments have progressively deployed automated meter reading systems that flag unusual overnight consumption, a telltale indicator of irrigation system activation outside permitted hours. St. Petersburg's utility reports that smart-meter alerts led to more than 400 compliance contacts in 2024 alone, the majority resolved with a courtesy notice before escalating to citations.

Customers who believe a citation was issued in error may file an appeal with the utility's customer service office within 21 days in most jurisdictions. Appeals that are not resolved administratively can proceed to the local code enforcement board. Commercial irrigation system operators face stricter documentation requirements and may be required to submit irrigation logs to the utility upon request during declared shortages.

HOA protections in Florida

Florida law provides homeowners with significant, explicit protection against homeowner association rules that would effectively require excessive irrigation during declared water shortages. The primary statutory authority is Section 720.3075, Florida Statutes, which governs prohibited clauses in homeowners' association documents. Under this section, any HOA covenant, rule, or deed restriction that mandates the irrigation of landscaping in a manner that violates a water management district water shortage order is unenforceable to the extent of that conflict.

This protection matters enormously in Florida, where tens of thousands of HOA-governed communities were developed with deed restrictions requiring uniformly green, irrigated lawns — standards written during decades when water supply concerns were minimal. As SWFWMD's Phase III order limits residents to one day of irrigation per week, homeowners complying with that order cannot be cited by their HOA for a lawn that shows drought stress resulting from lawful compliance.

Florida law also provides relief under Section 373.185, Florida Statutes, known as the Florida-Friendly Landscaping statute. This provision prevents HOAs from prohibiting the planting of Florida-Friendly landscaping — drought-tolerant plants and designs that comply with the University of Florida's Florida-Friendly Landscaping Program guidelines — even if such plantings differ from the aesthetic standard established in older community covenants. An HOA cannot fine a homeowner for replacing a traditional turf lawn with a Florida-Friendly design if that design meets the program criteria.

The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services and the Florida-Friendly Landscaping Program jointly publish guidance for homeowners navigating HOA conflicts during drought declarations. The guidance makes clear that residents should document communications with their HOA in writing and cite the specific SWFWMD shortage order by date and resolution number when responding to HOA notices.

In practice, disputes during the 2026 restrictions have begun to surface in communities in Sarasota and Manatee counties, where older covenants require irrigation of common-area turf that now falls under the one-day restriction. SWFWMD's public affairs office has stated that HOA common areas are subject to the same restriction schedule as individual residential properties unless the community operates on reclaimed water with a specific district permit authorizing different conditions.

Where Florida gets its water

Florida's water supply picture is unique in the continental United States. The state sits atop one of the world's most productive limestone aquifer systems — the Floridan Aquifer System — which underlies all 67 counties and extends into parts of Georgia, Alabama, and South Carolina. The Upper Floridan Aquifer is the primary source for municipal wells throughout the Tampa Bay region, southwest Florida, the Space Coast, and large portions of north Florida. In some areas, utilities pump directly from this aquifer with minimal treatment. In others, the presence of naturally occurring sulfur or brackish intrusion requires reverse osmosis or ion exchange treatment before distribution.

The Biscayne Aquifer, a much shallower formation running along the Atlantic coastal ridge from Miami-Dade County through Broward and into Palm Beach County, serves as the main freshwater source for the heavily populated southeast. Miami-Dade Water and Sewer pumps primarily from the Biscayne, making that system acutely sensitive to both saltwater intrusion from rising sea levels and recharge deficits during dry periods. The Surfside and Northwest Wellfields are among the critical extraction points for this region.

Surface water plays a substantial role in the Tampa Bay area. The Hillsborough River, which originates in the Green Swamp north of Lakeland and flows roughly 54 miles to Tampa Bay, feeds the Hillsborough River Reservoir — a 19.4-billion-gallon off-stream storage facility that is the largest reservoir in the Tampa Bay watershed. Tampa Bay Water, the regional wholesale utility, also operates the Tampa Bay Desalination Plant in Apollo Beach, one of the largest seawater desalination facilities in the United States, with a permitted capacity of 25 million gallons per day. That plant is operating near capacity in 2026 to compensate for reduced reservoir levels.

The Alafia River and the Manatee River serve as supplemental surface supply sources for Hillsborough, Pinellas, and Manatee counties. Both rivers are monitored continuously; when flows drop below minimum threshold levels set in SWFWMD permits, withdrawals must be reduced, further stressing the overall supply portfolio. The Peace River feeds the Peace River Manasota Regional Water Supply Authority's C.W. Bill Young Regional Reservoir in Hardee County, a critical backup supply for Sarasota and Charlotte counties.

In north Florida, the Suwannee River and its tributary the Santa Fe River feed springs and recharge the Floridan Aquifer, supporting Gainesville's regional supply through Gainesville Regional Utilities. The St. Johns River, the longest river in Florida at 310 miles flowing northward from the St. Johns Marsh to Jacksonville, is a surface supply source for Seminole County and is under study for expanded withdrawal to serve the booming central Florida population corridor.

There is no snowmelt contribution to Florida's water supply. Recharge comes entirely from rainfall and, in managed systems, from reclaimed water injection and aquifer storage and recovery wells.

How Florida's drought framework works

Florida's water shortage management system is administered through five regional Water Management Districts rather than a single statewide agency. Each district operates under authority granted by Chapter 373 of the Florida Statutes, which empowers governing boards to declare water shortage conditions and impose mandatory use restrictions when supplies fall below thresholds established in each district's adopted Water Shortage Plan.

The phase ladder used by SWFWMD — and broadly mirrored by the other districts — runs from Phase I through Phase IV, with each stage ratcheting up both the severity of restrictions and the penalties for noncompliance. Phase I triggers when supplies are projected to fall short of demand by a modest margin and calls for voluntary 15 percent reduction targets. Phase II requires mandatory reductions of around 25 percent and typically limits landscape irrigation to two or three days per week. Phase III, the level currently in force across the Tampa Bay region, demands a 30 to 45 percent reduction and compresses outdoor watering to one designated day per week. Phase IV — activated in northeast Cape Coral for private well users — can prohibit all non-essential outdoor water use entirely.

The "Modified" designations seen in the current 2026 declarations reflect SWFWMD's flexibility to tailor restrictions based on supply source. A Modified Phase III order may treat reclaimed water users differently from potable supply users, for example, recognizing that irrigating with reclaimed water draws on a separate system that does not deplete the Floridan Aquifer or surface reservoirs in the same way. This nuance is spelled out in SWFWMD's governing board resolutions and becomes legally binding upon local governments within the district boundary.

Trigger metrics for escalation include measurements at key monitoring stations: water levels at the Hillsborough River Reservoir, pressure heads at the Upper Floridan Aquifer observation wells, streamflow records on the Alafia River and the Withlacoochee River, and the U.S. Drought Monitor classification maps updated each Thursday. SWFWMD's staff hydrologists present modeled supply forecasts to the governing board, which then votes to declare, escalate, or lift shortage orders.

The St. Johns River Water Management District and the Suwannee River Water Management District use comparable phase structures but with different baseline metrics, reflecting the distinct hydrology of northeast and north-central Florida. The South Florida Water Management District, which manages water for 16 counties stretching from Orlando's southern suburbs to the Florida Keys, uses a drought advisory system that can operate in parallel with local utility restrictions, creating the layered conditions now visible in Collier and Lee counties.

Local governments are required to adopt and enforce ordinances consistent with district orders. A city cannot legally permit more irrigation than the district allows during a declared shortage, though cities may impose stricter rules if local conditions warrant.

Conservation programs in Florida

Florida's five water management districts fund conservation programs through a combination of state appropriations, federal grants, and utility surcharges, producing a substantial portfolio of rebates and technical assistance available to residents and businesses in 2026.

SWFWMD operates the WaterSense Irrigation Controller Rebate program, offering residential customers up to $100 per controller for replacing timer-based irrigation systems with EPA WaterSense-certified weather-based or soil moisture-based smart controllers. Customers in the current Phase III zone who install a qualifying controller during the declared shortage period are prioritized for processing. The district disbursed approximately $2.1 million in irrigation controller rebates in fiscal year 2024-2025.

The Landscape Transformation Program, jointly administered by SWFWMD and local government partners in Hillsborough, Pinellas, Pasco, and Manatee counties, offers homeowners $1 per square foot of traditional turf removed and replaced with Florida-Friendly drought-tolerant plantings, up to a maximum of $1,500 per residential property. Commercial properties may receive up to $3,000. The program has facilitated conversion of more than 8 million square feet of turf in the Tampa Bay area since 2018.

The Florida-Friendly Landscaping Program, administered through the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences extension network, provides free on-site landscape evaluations to homeowners statewide. Extension agents assess existing irrigation zones, soil conditions, and plant selection, delivering written recommendations that can qualify homeowners for utility-specific rebates. In 2025, Hillsborough County's extension office completed more than 1,800 residential evaluations.

The South Florida Water Management District operates the WaterMatters Rebate Portal, through which Palm Beach, Broward, Miami-Dade, and Collier county residents can access rebates of $100 to $200 per high-efficiency toilet, $50 to $75 per WaterSense-labeled showerhead, and up to $150 for rain barrel installations. Fort Lauderdale supplements the district program with a city-funded rebate of an additional $50 per rain barrel, for a combined maximum of $200.

Tampa's Water Department offers a Free Irrigation Audit Program in which certified irrigation specialists inspect residential systems at no charge, identifying broken heads, overspray patterns, and scheduling inefficiencies. Customers who complete the audit and implement recommended repairs receive a one-time bill credit of $25. In the first quarter of 2026, audit requests tripled compared to the same period in 2025, reflecting heightened public awareness of the Phase III declaration.

Pinellas County Utilities provides a Free Residential Water Efficiency Kit containing two WaterSense showerheads, one faucet aerator, two toilet leak detection tablets, and a rain gauge, mailed directly to customers upon online request at no cost to the recipient. The kit program is funded through the district's Regional Water Supply Plan implementation budget.

Lawn care in Florida's climate

Florida's subtropical climate divides broadly into two lawn care zones: the tropical south, encompassing Miami-Dade, Broward, Palm Beach, and Collier counties, where frost is essentially absent; and the transitional and humid subtropical zones covering central and north Florida, where occasional frost events shape turfgrass selection. There is no applicable cool-season turf tradition in Florida — the state's heat, humidity, and seasonal drought patterns demand warm-season grasses throughout.

St. Augustinegrass dominates Florida residential lawns, covering an estimated 70 percent of maintained turf area statewide. The cultivar Floratam is the most widely planted, valued for its density and rapid establishment. However, Floratam has relatively high water demand among St. Augustine varieties and performs poorly under prolonged drought. Homeowners seeking drought resilience should consider the Seville or Captiva cultivars, both of which are finer-bladed and demonstrate measurably better tolerance for reduced irrigation. Under Phase III one-day-per-week schedules, Floratam lawns in sandy soils will exhibit visible stress, while Seville and Captiva lawns in well-maintained soil profiles typically survive with minimal permanent damage.

Bahiagrass, particularly the Pensacola and Argentine varieties, is the most drought-tolerant warm-season option for north and central Florida. It is essentially self-sustaining during normal rainfall periods and survives extended dry spells through deep root development, going dormant and recovering when rain returns. Bahiagrass is widely used on roadside rights-of-way, acreage properties, and lower-maintenance residential lawns from Gainesville south through Polk County.

Zoysiagrass has been gaining market share in Florida over the past decade, particularly in the Tampa Bay and Orlando corridors. Empire Zoysia and Zeon Zoysia offer significantly better drought tolerance than St. Augustinegrass, along with reduced mowing frequency. Zoysia forms a dense mat that crowds out weeds naturally, reducing the need for chemical inputs.

Bermudagrass is heat-aggressive and highly drought-tolerant, but its tendency to invade landscape beds makes it unpopular for typical Florida residential settings. It is, however, the dominant turfgrass for Florida golf course fairways and sports fields, where its durability under high-traffic and reduced-water conditions is prized.

The University of Florida's Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences recommends raising mowing heights during drought — St. Augustinegrass should be cut at 3.5 to 4 inches rather than the typical 3 inches, preserving soil moisture and reducing heat stress on the crown. Fertilization during Phase III conditions should be suspended entirely; applying nitrogen to drought-stressed turf increases water demand and can cause irreversible root damage.

Drought history and 2026 outlook in Florida

Florida's drought history is punctuated by episodes severe enough to reshape water policy and infrastructure investment. The 1998-2001 drought remains one of the most damaging on record, driving the Hillsborough River Reservoir to its lowest operational level since construction and triggering water supply emergencies across Pinellas, Hillsborough, and Pasco counties. That crisis was the direct catalyst for Tampa Bay Water acquiring and expanding the Hillsborough River Reservoir and accelerating construction of the Tampa Bay Desalination Plant, which came online in 2003.

The 2007-2008 drought struck during a period of rapid population growth, straining the Floridan Aquifer pressure heads across the SWFWMD territory. SWFWMD declared a Phase III Water Shortage in early 2007, later escalating portions of the district to Phase IV. The Alafia River dropped to minimum flow conditions that triggered mandatory pumping reductions for Hillsborough County utilities. The Lake Tarpon reservoir in Pinellas County, an off-stream storage body fed by the Anclote River watershed, fell to levels that activated emergency operational protocols.

The 2011-2012 drought hit central and south Florida particularly hard. Lake Okeechobee, the 730-square-mile freshwater lake managed by the South Florida Water Management District and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, dropped to approximately 8.8 feet above mean sea level in May 2012 — one of its lowest levels in recorded history, approaching the emergency low threshold of 8.5 feet that triggers structural safety concerns for the Herbert Hoover Dike. Water supply allocations for Broward and Palm Beach counties' wellfields were curtailed as a precautionary measure.

The 2014-2015 dry season brought exceptional drought to southwest Florida, with the Peace River recording near-record low flows and the C.W. Bill Young Regional Reservoir operating well below its target pool level. SWFWMD issued a Phase II declaration in early 2015 that affected Sarasota and Charlotte county utilities.

The 2023-2024 dry season served as an immediate precursor to the current 2026 emergency, with below-average wet season rainfall failing to fully recharge aquifer levels and reservoir storage that had been drawn down during the 2022 drought period following Hurricane Ian's disruption of the southwest Florida infrastructure.

The trajectory of Florida's 2026 water situation depends heavily on the timing and intensity of the annual wet season, which typically arrives in the Tampa Bay area between late May and mid-June and in south Florida as early as late May. The National Weather Service Climate Prediction Center's spring outlook, issued in March 2026, indicated elevated probability of below-normal precipitation across the Florida Peninsula through May, with the wet season onset timing carrying higher-than-usual uncertainty due to a neutral ENSO pattern following the dissipation of La Niña conditions.

SWFWMD hydrologists are watching Upper Floridan Aquifer pressure heads at the Mosaic observation wells in Hillsborough County and the Eldridge-Wilde Wellfield monitoring network in Pinellas County as leading indicators of supply recovery. Both networks remain at multi-year lows as of early April 2026. The Hillsborough River Reservoir storage is below 60 percent of capacity, a threshold that historically correlates with extended Phase III conditions persisting into the wet season.

The Tampa Bay Desalination Plant's operational status is critical. Any unplanned outage during the summer of 2026 would accelerate reservoir and aquifer drawdown significantly, and Tampa Bay Water has secured a contingency agreement with the Peace River Manasota Regional Water Supply Authority for emergency supplemental withdrawals from the C.W. Bill Young Regional Reservoir if desalination output drops.

South Florida faces a different pressure: saltwater intrusion along the Biscayne Aquifer's eastern boundary is accelerating, with the Miami-Dade monitoring network recording the intrusion line at positions further inland than observed in 2019. If the 2026 wet season delivers below-normal totals, the SFWMD may need to escalate drought advisories in Miami-Dade County to a formal water shortage declaration before year-end.

Citizens and water managers should monitor SWFWMD's weekly Hydrologic Conditions Reports and the U.S. Drought Monitor updates every Thursday for leading indicators of improvement or further deterioration.

Frequently asked questions about Florida water restrictions

What does Modified Phase III actually mean for my irrigation schedule?

A Modified Phase III Severe Water Shortage declaration from SWFWMD limits residential landscape irrigation to one designated day per week. The "Modified" designation indicates that SWFWMD's governing board has customized the standard Phase III rules — typically to create separate treatment for reclaimed water users or to address specific local supply conditions. Your one permitted day is assigned based on your address or utility zone; contact your local utility to confirm your assigned day. Irrigation is prohibited between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. on your permitted day in most jurisdictions, and all other outdoor watering from a sprinkler or irrigation system is prohibited on non-permitted days.

Can I water by hand outside of my assigned irrigation day?

Yes. Hand watering with a hose equipped with an automatic shut-off nozzle — one that stops water flow when you release your grip — is generally permitted on any day under Florida water shortage orders, including Phase III. This exemption recognizes that targeted hand watering of individual plants or newly installed vegetation uses far less water than activating an irrigation system. You may also use micro-drip irrigation or soaker hoses on vegetable gardens on non-designated days, as these systems are typically exempt. Check your specific utility's Phase III order for any local modifications to these exemptions.

Will my HOA fine me if my lawn turns brown during Phase III restrictions?

Under Section 720.3075 of the Florida Statutes, your HOA cannot enforce any covenant or rule that requires irrigation in a manner inconsistent with a SWFWMD water shortage order. If your lawn browns because you are complying with the one-day-per-week restriction, your HOA legally cannot cite you for that browning. Keep a copy of SWFWMD's Modified Phase III declaration — including its effective date of April 3, 2026, and the resolution number from the SWFWMD governing board — and send it to your HOA management company in writing if you receive a warning notice. Florida law also protects you from HOA enforcement if you convert to Florida-Friendly landscaping that meets University of Florida program standards under Section 373.185 of the Florida Statutes.

Are there any exemptions for newly planted grass or landscaping?

Yes, but with strict conditions. Most SWFWMD-area utilities allow a new sod or plant establishment period of up to 30 days with prior written approval from the utility. During the establishment window, irrigation on a more frequent schedule — typically up to three times per week — may be permitted using a licensed irrigation contractor's certification that the watering is necessary for plant survival. This exemption is not automatic; you must apply before or immediately after installation. After the 30-day establishment period, all vegetation must adhere to the Phase III one-day schedule. Some utilities have paused new establishment exemptions entirely during the current 2026 Phase III declaration, so verify with your utility before installing new turf.

What is the penalty for violating water restrictions in the Tampa Bay area?

Penalty schedules vary by municipality, but most Tampa Bay area utilities follow a graduated fine structure. In Clearwater, a first residential violation during a declared shortage results in a written warning, a second in a $75 fine, a third in $150, and subsequent violations in $300 fines plus possible flow restriction. Tampa starts at $100 for a first citation and climbs to $500 for a third offense. SWFWMD itself can issue administrative fines of up to $10,000 per day per violation for egregious or commercial-scale violations under Chapter 373 of the Florida Statutes. Fines are separate from any bill surcharges for excess usage that some utilities apply during shortage declarations.

Does the Phase III restriction apply to my pool or pressure washing?

Filling or topping off a swimming pool is generally permitted during Phase III, as pool water serves a continuing use purpose and significant evaporation is considered non-discretionary loss. However, initial filling of a new pool installation is restricted and may require utility approval. Pressure washing driveways and buildings for purely aesthetic purposes is typically prohibited under Phase III conditions across SWFWMD-area utilities. Pressure washing for health or safety reasons — removing mold from surfaces posing a slip hazard, for example — may be permitted with documentation. Car washing is generally restricted to commercial facilities with water recirculation systems; residential driveway car washing with a running hose is prohibited during Phase III.

When is the Tampa Bay region likely to see restrictions lifted?

SWFWMD will downgrade or lift the Phase III Severe Water Shortage declaration when the Hillsborough River Reservoir returns to adequate operational levels, Upper Floridan Aquifer pressure heads recover to target ranges at district monitoring wells, and sustained rainfall eliminates the rainfall deficit. Based on historical patterns, the Tampa Bay wet season — which typically delivers 60 percent of annual rainfall between June and September — can resolve a shortage declaration within four to six weeks of consistent wet season onset. However, if the 2026 wet season onset is delayed beyond mid-June, restrictions may remain in effect through August or longer. SWFWMD publishes weekly hydrologic conditions reports on its website that residents can monitor for indicators of recovery.

Is reclaimed water subject to the same restrictions as potable water during Phase III?

Reclaimed water users may be treated differently depending on the specific Modified Phase III order in their jurisdiction. SWFWMD's Modified Phase III framework allows governing board resolutions to address reclaimed water separately, recognizing that reclaimed water does not draw from the same sources as drinking water and that allowing more liberal reclaimed water use does not exacerbate the potable supply deficit. In practice, Clearwater and St. Petersburg — two of Florida's largest reclaimed water distribution systems — have applied a two-day-per-week reclaimed water schedule during the current Phase III period, rather than the one-day restriction applied to potable supply customers. Confirm with your specific utility whether you are on reclaimed supply and what schedule applies to your property.