Desperate times call for desperate measures, and things are desperately dry right about now in California. But what’s a homeowner to do, when the state is telling you not to water your lawn too often or get fined $500, and the city is demanding you not have a brown lawn or face the same fee fate? Grab a can of paint.

In Los Angeles, homeowners trying to conserve water in the midst of the statewide drought also have the challenge of avoiding “brown lawn” fees. For those who don’t want to install drought-resistant turf or use other landscaping measures, there’s the allure of a quick solution.

“As soon as the water sanctions hit, and as soon as people find their water bills rising, they’re looking for ways to cut back on their expenses, and that’s when they start calling,” one lawn painting business owner tells CBS San Francisco.

Painters mix up dyes mixed with water after matching it to the parts of the lawn that are still green, and then simply spray it onto the grass.

Paint? On grass? Isn’t that bad? Apparently not, she explains — the dye job doesn’t kill the grass completely, allowing it turn green on its own when the rains come in winter.

SoCal Homeowners Spray-Painting Lawns Green To Avoid Water Fees During Drought [CBS San Francisco]

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