Property owners who let their lawns go dry to save water can ease the grip on their wallets after Gov. Jerry Brown signed a bill barring cities and counties from issuing fines for brown lawns during officially declared droughts.

Assemblywoman Cheryl Brown, D-San Bernardino, sponsored the legislation, which the governor signed Monday.

Cheryl Brown has said it’s counterintuitive to penalize people for saving water when the state is in its fourth year of a record drought. Officials have encouraged homeowners to let their lawns go brown, and many municipalities are no longer watering grass in street medians.

Riverside County does not require people to keep green lawns, although there are rules in place to prevent weeds from becoming a nuisance. San Bernardino County has no ordinance that requires green lawns.

The assemblywoman has said her office fielded complaints from residents statewide complaining about fines for not watering their lawns. The Sierra Club and the California Building Industry Association supported her bill, which passed the Assembly and Senate without opposition.

In April, Jerry Brown imposed mandatory water cutbacks for the first time in California history. The governor wants a 25 percent reduction in water usage from 2013 levels. Water usage statewide fell by 29 percent in May.

Last year, Brown signed an executive order barring homeowners associations from fining residents who limit their lawn watering and take other water-saving measures.

The ban on brown lawn fines takes effect Jan. 1.

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