A new water conservation plan in Los Angeles will restrict lawn watering to Mondays and Thursdays.
The City Council approved the plan Tuesday amid a statewide water shortage that enters its third summer.
The new rule goes into effect June 1 and adds to restrictions of no watering between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. The council has already revised water rates to penalize LA residents who use more water.
The Metropolitan Water District predicts regional water supplies will drop about 20 percent this year, and it voted last week to reduce water deliveries to its member agencies for the first time since 1991.
Councilman Richard Alarcón told the Daily News that he'd like to encourage homeowners to plant cactuses instead of grass or even trees.
But in a column last November, Ron Kaye reported that some Public Works Department inspectors actually cited residents for planting cactus and succulents on parkway tree lawn areas between the street and sidewalk in front of their homes.
One couple "was ordered to immediately remove their drought-resistant plants and replace them with grass or pavement or leave the parkway as dirt -- or face prosecution," Kaye reported.