Your lawn turns brown during a drought, you cut back on irrigation to conserve water, and then an HOA violation letter arrives telling you to restore the grass. It sounds absurd, but conflicts over HOA drought rules are real enough that states have passed laws specifically addressing what associations can demand from homeowners. The answer isn’t as simple as saying an HOA can—or cannot—require a green lawn, because state statutes, emergency drought orders, local watering restrictions, and the community’s governing documents can all affect the outcome. In some states, an HOA may be specifically prohibited from punishing homeowners for conserving water or replacing thirsty turf with drought-tolerant landscaping. Before spending hundreds of dollars trying to revive grass during a drought, homeowners should find out which rules actually have legal priority.
