Brown is the new green during historic drought

When it comes to your lawn, “Let it go. Brown is the new green,” that’s the message Save Our Water billboards aim to send along Interstate 10 or in your city. Some neighbors are doing just that.

“My grass is no good right now because I don’t want to use the water,” said Cathedral City resident Francisco Rojas.

Rojas hasn’t watered his lawn in about five months. He said there have been no complaints from his neighbors or Home Owners Association. Governor Jerry Brown wants to make sure it stays that way.

He signed AB1, prohibiting local governments from penalizing residents who conserve water by not watering their lawns. Democratic Assembly woman Cheryl Brown introduced the bill after people in her San Bernardino district were fined for their dry landscaping.

Amid the brown in the Coachella Valley, some people stick to green.

“My neighbors really obviously don’t look like they water their lawns very often, they all look pretty dead. My dad likes to keep the lawn as nice as it can and its definitely hard to do that with the drought,” said Cathedral City resident Ryan Herdt.

Herdt’s dad is enforcing some other changes to their routines.

“We don’t use too much water in the shower or washing our hands.”

The Save Our Water program is a partnership between the Association of California Water Agencies and the State Department of Water Resources, offering information and inspiration for people to reduce everyday water use permanently, during a drought or not.

As for Rojas he plans to install desert landscaping in the fall.