Proposed lawn watering ban has some residents already seeing dirt in Santa Barbara

A proposed ban on lawn watering in Santa Barbara isn’t going to impact some residents. They shut the valves months ago and all they have is dirt or dead grass these days.

Many residents said they did it to save money as bills shot up.

Others have put a green dye on their lawns, planted drought tolerant plants, or installed artificial grass.

Miguel Torrez a longtime Westside resident says one of the biggest impacts he sees when it comes to water use is from multiple families in one home. Years ago, he says, that did not happen.

“A lot of people, I mean every single house, has to have two or three families in the house,” said Torrez.

Torrez also says solutions for the drought are taking too long. He was not surprised to hear the desalination plant, under construction in Santa Barbara, is not expected to be producing water in January as scheduled. City officials say it will now likely be March.

Maddy Englese says her front line is artificial, but looks great. “I didn’t think I would I like it when we first got it. I Iike it and the dog is fine with it too,” Englese said.

Inside the house, “We’ve cut back on watering the lawn and on showering. We are down to five minute showers,” said Englese.

The city says its wells are going at maximum pumping levels, and other supplies are barely keeping up with the demand.

Al Harris said for him, “obviously we have to do something, and the best way is to keep it out of the spigot. However you want to do it.”

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