In Wisconsin you can be fined for watering your lawn

[Cory1990]

I was sitting outside with myths people in the house next door. A cop pulled up at first I thought nothing of it and kept on with my conversation. And I turn around the cop gave them a warning for watering the grass. Iv never heard of this before and I took note to shut off my sprinkler ASAP.

Fine cost if busting watering your lawn

$450.00 first offense.

Crazy that in all my life i have not heard of anything like that.

[emc7]

You must be in drought. We have had watering restrictions here for 10 years. In some years, no outdoor watering even for new landscaping. Put a few nurseries into bankruptcy. Usually odd or even days + restricted hours. Watering the lawn during the hot part of the day evaporates more water than hits the ground. But watering at night can grow fungus instead of grass.

[Coolfish]

You can't water the grass here or have your lawn taller than 8" or you will get a fine.

[emc7]

We have the tall grass crap too. That is local nimbies trying to keep the property values up, picking on little old ladies and out-of-state banks. The homeowner's association can get you for painting your house white or adding a "structure" without prior approval. The city can get you for having a non-working vehicle parked on your own property. Google Roswell, GA chicken man for a horror story. Old guy lived in the country and raised chickens until the city grew up around him and the neighbors got him arrested for violating new local code and noise ordinances, The took him to jail, so the house got long grass and more code violation and he didn't make his mortgage payment, so the bank foreclosed. When the sheriff came to serve notice, he blew himself up in the house.

[Cory1990]

Oh I hate that. My grandpas house is on the edge of city and country and this year the police told us we couldn't shoot guns on the property anymore because the people next door complained about it. I thought it was bs and the cops threatened to take our guns away from us.

Growing city's suck. My grandpa thought building his house 60 years ago was going to stay country now he has storages and a movie theater right next to him.

[emc7]

People we know sold land that had been in their family for generations to pay the new, higher property tax after it got rezoned residential. They got a good price and moved another 100 miles out. Atlanta got slammed in the housing bubble because our economy was largely fueled by development and influx of new residents. Too bad there isn't enough water to go around.

People complain about federal government intrusion, but its nothing compared to the locals. Re-zoning against an owner's wishes ought to unconstitutional under the no "ex post facto" laws provision.

[emc7]

Lawns are stupid anyway. A waste of resources and (now that industry and agriculture have been regulated) a major source of pollution in our water ways. But I bet your neighbors would complain if you let your lawn die or went back to what people had before lawns. Here it was often swept bare red clay yards.

[Cory1990]

I'm letting mine die, I was trying to keep it green but I think it's to far gone. I seen they turned there sprinkler back on so I'm guessing it won't be long before they get the ticket. A lot of people around here are pretty angry because of how much we will have to pay for grass seed vs the water. But I guess we have to save te world


Anyways they tried to re zone my grandpas house, they considered it the town of instead of the city, but still raised his property taxs. Oh boy was he mad that day. Now he's sick and is moved into a care home. And now our family is trying to sell his house. I can't see that happening because it's a hand built home. Nothing fancy just te basics. 2 bedroom one levle with a huge basement.

I often listened to him tell me about how they had te hole dug for the basement and no other large equipment was used to build the house. My grandparents and all 12 kids lived in just the basement for 14 years while he built the house by himself.

[emc7]

My grandfather had 6 kids and his house had 3 additions that he did himself to make room for all of them. It's sound, but is missing niceties like good insulation, you can feel the wind blow through the bedroom. My mother tells stories of roller skating in the dining room before they put down the final floor. There is a boarded up coal chute and a dirty little room in the basement the used to have coal in it. After he died, his kids put in everything it needed to be habitable for my grandmother (new electrical, new roof, a bathtub). I can't imagine 8 people with 1 bathroom and no tub. After she died, it went to my mother and her sisters (Irish tradition, the boys got the business) and they are selling it to a cousin rent-to-own so it stays in the family. But the only other people that would buy it would knock it down and built 4 condos.

I don't mind the outdoor watering ban because I like to have water to drink and bath and for my fish. I don't care if FA can't run its nuclear plant, but if our lake dries up, the pipes will be dry or we will have to pay TN to tap the river up there.

Here is okay to water your lawn with creek water (which makes no sense to me), and its okay to use waste water. So if you fill the bathtub while you shower, you can drain it into the garden. I often dump my fish buckets on my flowers. Rainwater is okay, too. You can put barrels under the downspouts to catch it. In practice, this means companies and farms put pumps in the creeks and lakes and rivers to water their landscaping and crops, Florida complains about low water levels, the Army corps or Engineers releases more lake water and homeowners get tighter restrictions and higher water bills.

People here were just ignoring the non-watering notices or paying the fines, so they kept raising them. During the worst part of the drought, neighbors would tattle on you and dead lawns and dirty cars were a source of pride.

Wisconsin only has "severe" drought. We have "exceptional drought". We are lucky to still be allowed pools. If your restrictions are that strict without the kind of long-term super-drought we've had here, you should really wonder if your water supply is adequate. http://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/

Global warming or not, long droughts are something we should prepare for and water conservation is a no-brainer. I think the high water bills in Europe are the reason for the German nano tank trend.

[Fishpunk]

Come on down to Phoenix. Waste as much water as you want in this desert, and our politicians loooooove guns.

[emc7]

So where does a city in a dessert get the water to grow all those flowering tree and grasses allergy sufferers moved to the dessert to escape? Somebody planned ahead.

Wisconsin has 2 huge freshwater lakes and Atlanta has, one shallow river and what we can catch in a little man-made lake.

[Cory1990]

Vary true, I would think we have more then enough water. Gues not though. They just put the ban out in my town where if we get caught having a cook out you will get fined the first time. Wisconsin sucks this year.

[pinetree]

I'm slowly trying to replace my turf grass lawn with other things - native plants and such. Fortunately, at least half of my yard is actually woods. We haven't had rain in weeks here and now what is left of my lawn is pretty dry and crispy, but at least I haven't had to mow in several weeks. It has been a very hot, dry summer here in the northeast.

[Cory1990]

Yea iv heard my family in Washington has not even got much rain this year yet. When I lived out there no rain was my dream weather. Now I'm stuck here in this heat and I'm miserable. Iv had my ac running 24/7 my electric bill is going to suck! I just heard high 90s for tomorrow.

[emc7]

we can grill, but no bonfires or burning brush or construction debris in the summer.

What I find weird here compared to IL is the way they let the trees grow through the power and phone lines. So every thunderstorm brings down power or phone or cable or street lights. In IL ComEd would take down anything near a line and you could see for miles down the lines with no obstructions.

Its hot here, but its really rare not to have some AC. Everywhere you go the units are strained but running. Afraid to see the power bill, though. Connecticut in heat wave was rotten because you didn't have central air, just radiator heat and room units.

If they really want to save the planet, they'd outlaw AC, but then there would be a revolution for sure.