Amid California drought, Los Angeles water department waters fake grass

LOS ANGELES -- The Los

Angeles Department of Water and Power is trying to set an example on how to

reduce water use amid California's fifth consecutive year of severe drought.

The

DWP has, for example, installed drought-tolerant plants and fake grass at its

substations.

"We

stopped watering the grass to do our part to save water," a sign at the

South LA substation says.

But

a CBS Los Angeles investigation found the water has not stopped flowing outside

DWP buildings. Rather, the DWP has installed sprinklers to soak its Sprinkler System Installation Greenville fake grass

for minutes at a time.

The

seemingly superfluous watering has angered neighbors who say they've taken

pains to reduce their own water use amid the threat of citations. The DWP has

stepped up its enforcement against heavy water users this year, issuing more

than two dozen financial penalties to homeowners in the first four months of

the year, according to reports.

"They're

quick to fine us for certain things, overwatering or whatever," said Amber

Gordon, who lives near the DWP's South LA substation and has let her formerly

green lawn turn brown to save water. "That kind of raise questions."

On

a recent Thursday morning, sprinklers ran for six minutes, soaking fake grass

outside the South LA substation. Even an area completely devoid of grass --

real or fake -- was inundated by water from sprinklers.

The

excess water ran down the sidewalk and toward the street in an apparent

violation of city code stating, "No customer of the Department shall use

water in a manner that causes or allows excess or continuous water flow or

runoff ont o an adjoining sidewalk, driveway, street, gutter or ditch."

Such runoff is prohibited even for recycled "gray" water.



Substations

in Studio City and Los Feliz were also found to be outfitted with sprinklers

set in artificial turf.

So,

why is the DWP letting so much water go seemingly to waste?

"We're



rinsing the grass to make it more sanitary," said Richard Harasick,

director of water oper ations at the DWP.

The

department said it waters http://extension.oregonstate.edu/gardening/ fake grass at 10 locations for a few minutes a week,

water use it said is allowed under current water-use ordinances.

Harasick

said leaving the turf unwashed leaves a foul smell in the air.

"We're really

just trying to wash out dog pee," he said.

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