Homeowner associations and city codes all over California enforce the watering of lawns even during drought conditions and a water emergency declared by the governor of the State.

A Sacramento couple found themselves caught up in red tape and code when they decided not to water their lawn letting it die instead. Landscaping plans were in the works, but the neighborhood watchdogs reported them before those plans were put into motion. Facing a fine that added up to half their monthly morgage the Sacramento couple was lucky to get public outrage and support after a story appeared in The Sacramento Bee.

The happy ending is that no fine will be meted out and members of the city council admit that city codes may need revising.

Like many Californians this couple's issues stem around agreements with landlords, cities, and HOAs that insist on the watering of grounds. The orderly maintenance of property is one of the factors that helps to keep property values from declining.

Perhaps more than the city of Sacramento can take a lesson from what the couple in the Bee's article lived through. Many contracts and codes need to be revised. Our current drought situation demands it.

Native plants and xeriscaping open many options to beautiful yards that can be maintained with much less water usage than traditional lawns require.

Marty Eberhardt, executive director of the Water Conservation Garden at Cuyamaca College is quoted in a March article at the VoiceofSanDiego.org saying, "It also requires behavorial change, a change of appreciation of a certain kind of landscaping. There are different concepts of paradise, and there's a vision of paradise that fits our weather patterns and soil types."

Paving paradise with lawns or cement has been a decades old vision of loveliness in San Diego County. The time has come to change our vision of paradise.

Click here to read the Sacramento Bee article.

Click here to read the Sacamento Bee follow-up article.