More water restrictions expected this summer

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- In the coming days, you may soon be seeing Damon Ayala with the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power walking down your street as state leaders work to conserve much-needed water amid a historic drought.

Ayala is a part of the department's water conservation team tasked with finding water waste in different parts of the city.

During Ayala's shift Tuesday morning, he found one home violating a watering rule.

The home is only supposed to water on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Ayala stresses that penalizing people is not their primary mission.

"They're not going to get a citation, and even if they did get a citation, because we're more about changing behavior and education, it would be a non-monetary citation at first," said Ayala, who added he will begin issuing information letters for those who may not be aware of the ordinance and new restriction changes.

On Tuesday, California water officials adopted a ban on watering certain green spaces.

Starting June 10, watering some grass outside businesses, industrial facilities and institutions like colleges, hospitals and government facilities, as well as spaces managed by homeowners' associations, won't be allowed.

Grass that can't be watered includes anything that's used for decoration and not for regular activities or events.

The ban doesn't apply to parks, sports fields, people's lawns, or to watering trees. It would apply to grass managed by homeowners' associations but not individual residents.

READ MORE | State water board adopts ban on watering some green spaces as drought drags on

Leslie Botnick, a Los Angeles homeowner, told Eyewitness News he has seen people wasting water.

He installed drought-tolerant landscaping and only waters one day a week.

"We actually did this five or six years ago because we know this is drought country," said Botnick.

LADWP said it has incentives for homeowners to install drought- tolerant landscaping.

"This is why we offer the $3 per square foot turf replacement incentive program," said Ayala. "We'd like to see more customers upgrade from their lawns for something like this that use less water."

Starting June 1, the city of Los Angeles plans on new watering restrictions of two days a week for lawns down from the current three.