What are the rules for watering our lawn?

The rules for watering a croquet lawn are set by the club's council or water provider, and they change as the dams rise and fall. On 30 October 2026, most CAQ clubs were in areas with no water restrictions in force. This page is for the volunteers who look after a club's courts and water. It gives the broad picture, then links to a page for each council area with CAQ clubs. Each page quotes what the council or water provider publishes and links to it.

How clubs do it

1. The table below names the council for each CAQ club and links to its page.
2. Levels change as dam levels change. The council's or water provider's own page on the day shows the level in force.
3. Some councils take applications for an exemption, a permit or a water plan. Each council page says what its council publishes about this.

South East Queensland

Brisbane, Ipswich, Moreton Bay, Logan, Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast, Noosa and Scenic Rim all sit under one regional set of rules, the Water Restrictions Schedules. Seqwater supplies the water and sets the levels. Each area's water provider puts the restrictions in place.

The Schedules list a "green (that is, croquet, bowling or golf)" as an active playing surface. For watering one, the Schedules say:

The Urban Utilities copy of the Schedules says of the Guideline: "These are currently in development." On 30 October 2026, Seqwater's water saving page linked the words "Active playing surfaces guidelines" to a Queensland Government fact sheet on efficient watering. Whether that is the Guideline the Schedules mean is not stated, so the water provider is the one to ask.

The Schedules cover town water. Their words are "potable water from the Seqwater bulk water supply". Each council adds a little of its own. You can read more in Watering rules: South East Queensland. Tamborine Mountain has no town water, which makes its case different. You can read more in Watering rules: Scenic Rim.

Outside South East Queensland

Most councils outside South East Queensland have rules of their own for sports grounds or greens:

• Mackay counts a "croquet green" as an "active playing surface".
• Fraser Coast has rules for "sensitive playing surfaces" and an exemption form.
• Western Downs says sporting facilities water "As per an approved Water Efficiency Management Plan".
• Rockhampton, Livingstone and Tweed have rules for bowling and golf greens. Croquet is not named.
• Gladstone's plan says "As approved by Council" for Council sports grounds at higher levels.
• Toowoomba's restrictions page has rules for lawns but no line for sports grounds was found.
• Bundaberg has no restrictions in place, and no published schedule was found.

Tank, bore and recycled water

Most councils' rules are about town water. Water from a rainwater tank that is not topped up from the town supply, a private bore, or recycled water is usually outside them. In South East Queensland, the Schedules also cover a rainwater tank at a place with no town water, where the tank is the main supply. Fraser Coast and Mackay say so in their documents, and Rockhampton and Livingstone say "No restrictions for recycled water or bores" for greens.

There are exceptions. In Western Downs, "Water restrictions are applicable to all properties connected to a Council water supply, including potable (drinking quality) and non-potable (not for drinking) supplies." In South East Queensland, a rainwater tank topped up from town water follows the same restrictions as town water. Tweed's restrictions do not cover bores, but its council asks people not to use bore water when restrictions are triggered. Each council page has the detail.

The councils

Clubs are grouped by the address CAQ holds for each club. "In force" is as read on each council's or provider's page on 30 October 2026.

No council in a CAQ area was found to exempt sports grounds outright from restrictions on town water. A club may hold a permit, an exemption or a water plan that no council publishes. The club's own records, and its council or water provider, are the full record.

If this is wrong for your club, or your club holds a permit or water plan, please tell us at hello@croquetqld.org and we will check and fix it.

Where this comes from

1. Water Restrictions Schedules (Logan City Council's accessible copy): trigger levels and item 1.6 (read 30 October 2026)
2. Water Restrictions Schedules 2021 (Unitywater copy): definition of an active playing surface (read 30 October 2026)
3. Water Restrictions Schedules (Urban Utilities copy): the Guideline "currently in development" (read 30 October 2026)
4. Seqwater, Water saving advice: no restrictions in South East Queensland (read 30 October 2026)
5. Western Downs Regional Council, Water: non-potable supplies (read 30 October 2026)
6. The council pages linked above, each with its own sources