Skulking Nocturnal Illegal Sprinklers New Threat to Water Supply

In many parts of America, cities and towns are trying to ban or limit the use of sprinklers to help deal with drought conditions. But just as people are unwilling to give up much to deal with global warming, there are many who will go extraordinary lengths to keep watering their lawn.

According to the Wall Street Journal, some are digging wells or pumping from streams, (which we think would be just as bad for the aquifer), "And some are flat-out cheating. Rosie Igo of Brownsburg, Ind., says she tried obeying her town's new watering restrictions for two weeks this spring -- until her grass went limp. Lately she's been setting her sprinkler system to turn on at 3:30 a.m. when nobody will notice. "My husband's a golfer, he loves green," Ms. Igo explains."

Other citizens of Richistan just don't care about the fines. "Habitual offenders tend to live in wealthier neighborhoods, where a $300 fine "is well below the threshold of what it's worth to have a green lawn," says City Manager Scott Neal. One homeowner in Palm Beach, Fla., recently used 11.7 million gallons of water in 12 months -- running up a $33,629 water bill, according to public records." ::Wall Street Journal