Foundation watering

Not sure your soil is clay? Four checks for expansive clay start with your county's rating.

How to water

Houston's Foundation Performance Association says to water at least one to two feet from the foundation, lightly, so tree roots aren't drawn toward it; to keep sprinklers from spraying the structure; and, when dry soil cracks and pulls away from the foundation, not to water straight into the gap (Foundation Performance Association). Its advice on timing: keep the system on manual and water in dry periods, when the lawn starts to wilt (FPA).

What Texas cities allow in drought

• Austin: foundations may be watered on the assigned watering day and times, with sprinklers set to reach the ground about 18 inches from the foundation (Austin Water). The city code ties foundation watering to the designated day and hours (Austin drought plan, 2024), and the plan's top stage bans it without a variance.
• Dallas: in Stages 1 and 2 of the drought plan, foundations may be watered any day and any time with drip irrigation, a soaker hose or a hand-held hose with a shutoff nozzle (Dallas drought plan). The ordinance text posted in 2026 lists watering a foundation by hand-held hose, drip device, soaker hose or bucket as a defense to the designated-day rule (Dallas ordinance text, 2026).
• Fort Worth: hand-held hose, soaker hose and drip watering stay allowed any day and time even at the stage that bans other landscape watering, to protect foundations and trees (Fort Worth drought plan, 2024).
• San Antonio: in Stage 3, soaker hoses follow the once-a-week watering day, like sprinklers (SAWS).

Not everywhere

The Colorado Geological Survey's advice for swelling soils runs the other way: poorly planned lawn and shrub watering is "the direct cause of much of the damage" to houses on those soils, and it advises keeping sprinklers about 5 feet from the foundation (Colorado Geological Survey).

Clay counties in drought this week

Counties with shrink-swell clay on at least a third of their land and at least half their area in drought (D1 or worse), ranked by both together. Updated with each weekly map. Over a full year, see the clay counties that stayed dry; every county where clay covers most of the land, with 53 weeks of maps, is on the drought watch.