As you may (or may not) know, the State of California is experience once of the worst droughts on record, . We posted an article regarding this several weeks ago giving the details and what our watering plan would be to avoid significant water district penalties.
While we have been successful staving off the stiff financial penalties, our turf is not doing so well. Neither is the turf of the most of the other associations in Cathedral Canyon, as well as those in Palm Springs and Rancho Mirage. If you do see very green grass, it is because those Associations decided to pay those substantial penalties in their operating costs, which typically means monthly increases, special assessments, and/or reductions in other services.
Our board has opted to not go this route, since we’ve tried since 2009 to provide a good stabilized monthly assessment level. Those who challenge the water district’s  reduction demands are definitely experiencing excruciatingly high penalty levels, and possible additional actions. We’d rather ride things out, hoping for good El Nino rains, and will plan in the long term for landscaping solutions that will help us meet sustained reduction demands.
Please keep an eye on plants near your unit that appear to be stressed or dying, and report them to Desert Management. While we did not overseed this year and are letting the grass go, we want to keep all of our plants healthy.
As we head into 2016, we will keep landscaping our top priority and look for solutions that work within our new water paradigm.