SACRAMENTO – AB 1, by Assemblymember Cheryl R. Brown (D-San Bernardino), passed out of the Assembly today with broad bipartisan support, 78 to 0. AB 1 prohibits municipalities from fining their residents for not watering their lawn when a drought emergency is declared by the Governor.
“California is facing extreme drought conditions and it is completely irresponsible for a municipality to penalize its residents for conserving water,” Assemblymember Brown said. “If California is going to manage its water resources efficiently, then we cannot fine individuals for doing their part.”
In 2013, the Governor convened an interagency Drought Task Force to analyze California’s current water system and sustainability. As a result of the Drought Task Force’s findings, the Governor declared a State of Emergency and requested that Californians reduce their water usage by 20 percent.
Despite the Governor’s drought declaration and request to curb water consumption, some local municipalities continued to enforce ordinances that require residents to maintain watering their green lawns and penalize those who choose to reduce or eliminate lawn watering or have brown lawns.
The Bill will now move onto the Senate.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
Section 1.
