"Water Rage" Hits Parched Australians

[hatrack]

SYDNEY, Australia — "A new weather-related phenomenon has sprung up in Sydney: water rage. As Australia's most populous city battles a two-year drought with harsh water restrictions, neighbors are turning into vigilantes to stamp out illicit irrigation.

'I am alarmed at reports that neighbors have decided to appoint themselves as enforcers of water restrictions,' New South Wales state Energy and Utilities Minister Frank Sartor said in a statement Wednesday.

Sartor's comments followed media reports two Sydney neighbors came to blows over a family's manicured and apparently well-watered lawn.

Restrictions introduced last month outlaw the use of sprinklers to water lawns but do allow residents to hose down the grass. Using a hose to wash cars or clean driveways is banned. People caught breaching the regulations can be slapped with a 220 Australian dollar (US$158) fine."

EDIT


http://www.enn.com/news/2003-11-13/s_10378.asp

[politicat]

1. If the Neighbors don't report it, who will?

Having lived through a major drought over the last few years, I'm stunned that the Aussies are surprised that people are going to make complaints about their neighbors' bad hose-pipe habits. Community enforcement is the only way water regs can be enforced.

Glad to hear someone stood up for the law.

Pcat (who thinks using DRINKING water on a lawn is insane.....)