Are you one of those people who have heard on the news or read in the newspaper that you need to conserve water because California is in a drought, but you just don’t care? You think “Oh this is complete BS. They have enough water. I’ll just continue to take 30 minute showers and water the lawn for as long as I want to.” Well I hate to ruin your day sunshine, but if you still have this attitude in August 2014, you better prepare to start paying a $500 fine per day.

Source: SFGate –  California drought: $500-a-day fines for California water hogs?

I have been conserving water for years. When I take a shower, I literally only have the water turned on when I need it. I turn the water on just to get me wet, then turn it off while I lather my hair with shampoo and my body with body wash. Then I will turn the water on to rinse myself off. I probably only use a couple of gallons, if that. When I do laundry, I only do it once a week or maybe twice a month. I will wear the same clothes a few days in a row. I don’t do anything but sit at my desk in my bedroom, so there really isn’t any reason to keep changing my clothes. It’s not like I’m getting sweaty. My clothes don’t smell after a couple of days, they still smell pretty much clean. The only exception is when I do start sweating in my clothes during the summer, then I will change my clothes after my shower.

Our lawn has basically been dead for a few years. We have a huge patch that is basically all dirt because people are constantly walking on it, and it has way too much shade from the pecan tree. The rest of the lawn is dead because I never water it because of the drought. I usually water it once a week throughout the summer to try to keep it green, but I tend to not want to water because I know that I shouldn’t. I see neighbors watering all the time and think, if they can water, why shouldn’t I be able to? I’ve been watering it once or twice a week this past month or so, but now with this new $500 fine I’m not going to water anymore. Being on a limited income, I can’t take any chances. I mean, that’s more than half of my monthly income right there. I don’t know what I would do if I ever got a fine just because the water hit the sidewalk or went into the street. I would be screwed.

So this is just a friendly warning to all of my fellow California residents. Conserve your water usage or face a huge penalty. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

Image Source: This is my character Edward watering his money tree in The Sims 3. Don’t you wish you had a money tree? I know I do lol.