You've probably seen the public service announcements city leaders have taped, asking Amarillo citizens to cut back on their water usage voluntarily -- as our drought continues with a nine inch deficit in our rainfall for the year.
Now -- imagine being a homeowner and being notified by certified mail to start watering more -- because your lawn doesn't meet your homeowners associations standards. That's exactly what happened to one Amarillo man.
As you drive into Tascosa Country Club estates just west of the golf course, one of the first things you notice is how thick and lush the yards are...and how well watered and manicured by just about every home owner, except David Smith.
"I grew up here and I know what it's like not to have water and a lot of people who moved here, don't."
He moved back to Amarillo to retire and has been living here since 2000. He put in Bermuda grass a few years ago because of its tolerances to low water. He told Pronews 7 during a drought, water is too precious a commodity to waste on lawns.
"We're shepherds," Smith said. "We don't own this area of the world, we're shepherds. We're supposed to pass it on in better shape that when we got it. Are we going to do that? Not if we drain the Ogallala down growing grass."
Now, his lack of water has landed him in hot water. He just received a certified letter from his Homeowners Association which points out that his back yard is not in compliance with their by-laws, noting it's not maintained in an attractive appearance and failure to correct this could result in a hearing, fines, or legal action.
Smith says he's more worried about future generations having potable water than a green lawn in his own backyard.
"They sent me this letter saying I am going to be under severe penalty unless I put more water and wasted more pure Ogallala drinking water in order to grow fescue or bluegrass in the middle of a drought. I mean, I mean just how stupid is this?"
Smith says he'll contact the president of the homeowners association and see if a balance can be struck. Until then, he says he's not sure if he'll start watering his lawn again to bring him into compliance.
