Hollister homeowner speaks out about water shaming claims

The drought is causing some people to cast a critical eye on their neighbor’s yards. The city of Hollister’s water department said it has received about 200 complaints about people wasting water or owners with lawns that are suspiciously green. NewsChannel 5 spoke with one Hollister homeowner who was blasted on social media. She asked to keep her name private, so we called her Jane Doe.

“I think they see that I have a large lawn, and not aware that it only waters about 5 minutes early in the morning,” Doe said.

Recently Doe was called out on Hollister’s neighborhood watch Facebook page for wasting water. The post listed her address and asked police to pay a visit. Since then, the post had been taken down.

“I would like to know who reported that,” Doe said.

California is in it’s fourth year of drought and some yards greener than ever. But people think their calls to the water department are helping.

“You kind of have to take those with a grain of salt. You know I went out to a property the other day and the guy says ‘I swear they must be watering every day their lawn is so green.’ The address, I went out to check it, it was artificial turf in front of the house,” Shawn Novack of San Benito County Water District said.

Doe’s house grabbed some negative attention. The grass is real and most would say it’s pretty green. But this Hollister resident disagrees.

“You can see it’s dying come and take a look at my backyard there’s things that are dying because I’m not watering them,” Doe said.

There are lots of plants around the yard, and yes the lawn area in back is dead. But in the front there are some water marks on the sidewalks. The water department said they do respond to every water waste call but the more serious ones are when they see water coming over the sidewalks and into the storm drain. The water police haven’t yet paid a visit to Doe’s house, and she hopes they don’t. Doe did have this to say to those worried about her water use.

“I flush the toilet when I go to the bathroom is that OK?” Doe said.

That might not be enough for some people conserving water. While that’s up for debate, watering everyday is a no-no.

“You’re only allowed to water two days a week. and its based on odd even on your address,” Novack said.

The water department said the state’s drought is serious and lawns in Hollister use up to 60 inches of water in an area that only gets about 11 to 13 inches of rain in a good year. The water department said it hasn’t had to issue any citations yet.

Residents receive two warnings and then the fines start at $100 and go all the way up to $500.