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Dr. Hans Schreier is a bike commuter, who pedals through the streets near the University of British Columbia campus each day, past houses with perfectly green, manicured front lawns, frequently adorned with sprinklers busy spraying water.

On a recent day, he counted six lawns where the sprinklers were out, soaking every blade of grass in a city that has had 10mm of rain since May 1, and where officials have been urging residents to limit their lawn watering to one hour per week.

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Like many Vancouverites, Schreier has been forgoing his hour, and watching his lawn turn from green to yellow to brown instead. But some have been keeping their taps and their sprinklers turned on, triggering a municipal tempest pitting the brown-lawn-embracing water conservationists against the green-lawn-loving holdouts.

“I am proud of how brown my lawn is,” says Mike Tippett, a tech entrepreneur in Point Grey. “If your grass is too green it is kind of a sign that you are a selfish person. And I have a word for those people: grass-holes.”