Bill to ban fining Californians who let lawns go brown in drought

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (Reuters) - Californians who let their lawns go brown to save water during the state's prolonged drought would no longer face fines from municipalities for failing to maintain their properties under a bill passed Thursday in the state assembly. The bill, which passed unanimously, was filed after residents of several cities said they were cited for blight after cutting back on watering. "It is completely irresponsible for a municipality to penalize its residents for conserving water," said Democratic Assembly member Cheryl R. Brown of San Bernardino, the bill's author. The legislature took up Brown's bill, which was initially introduced last year, after Governor Jerry Brown ordered California's first-ever statewide mandatory cutbacks in water use earlier this month. It bans local governments from enforcing rules against letting landscapes go brown during a drought emergency declared by the governor. Cheryl Brown said that residents of the Southern California communities of Glendale, Upland and San Bernardino had said they received anti-blight citations. Fines for such violations can be as high as $500, she said in her analysis of the bill. California is entering its fourth year of a catastrophic drought that has forced farmers to fallow land and cost the state's economy an estimated $2.2 billion last year. Rushing to fulfill Governor Jerry Brown's mandate to cut water use, state regulators said Saturday that communities that use the most water would have to cut their consumption by 36 percent, while those who use less would be expected to cut less. (Reporting by Sharon Bernstein; Editing by Eric Walsh)