How brown are those Modesto council members’ lawns?

Modesto is nearly six weeks into its Stage 2 drought restrictions, which reduced outdoor watering from three to two days per week and raised the fines for water wasters and those violating the restrictions to as much as $500. The city has been diligent in getting the word out about and enforcing the restrictions.

So how good of a job are the city’s policymakers doing in following the rules?

The Modesto Bee looked at the front yards of Mayor Garrad Marsh and the six council members to find out. Based on that limited assessment, the seven elected officials appear to be doing a pretty good job. Of the four homes with lawns, three show signs of distress and browning.

District 3 Councilman Dave Lopez has a green lawn but with patches of dirt and weeds. His front yard has two giant trees that shade the lawn. The strip of grass along the side of the house gets direct sunlight and is browning. Lopez said he is following the restrictions and said he has replaced part of his backyard lawn with 4,000 patio bricks in the last year. “It was three things,” he said. “We wanted more patio, less lawn to cut and less water to use.”

District 2 Councilman Tony Madrigal said he rents a room in a duplex and has no control over the landscaping. But the duplex’s front yard consists primarily of bare dirt with the occasional weed or clump of dried grass. “I think we stopped watering our lawn before it was cool,” Madrigal joked.

Madrigal said he moved in 2012 when he was working as a substitute teacher and before he was elected to the council in 2013. He said he now works as a staffer for state Assemblyman Luis Alejo and is looking at buying a home.

Marsh has the biggest and brownest lawn of any of the elected officials. But that lawn now is a lot smaller. Marsh said he replaced about a sixth of his lawn with mulch a couple of months ago. “We had more lawn than we wanted, and because of the drought, I realized I didn’t need that much lawn and can be more efficient with my water,” he said. Marsh said he also has installed microsprinklers over the past two years in his 30-tree orchard.

“I’m not trying to be the poster child for the right thing to do,” he said. “But I am going to do my part.”

District 6 Councilman Dave Cogdill Jr. has a tiny lawn that is showing signs of distress. He said he and his family have become more conscious of their water use by such measures as taking shorter showers and not letting faucets run.

District 1 Councilman John Gunderson said his house did not have a lawn when he and his wife moved into it about a dozen years ago. And Gunderson never bothered to put one in. “They are a lot of hassle and work,” he said. “We didn’t feel a need for a lawn. And they use a lot of water.”

Gunderson’s yard consists of concrete, dirt, flowers, bushes, trees and a vegetable garden. He said he and his wife have been collecting their tap water as it warms up and their shower water for at least 11/2 years. He said that provides about a third of his water for his landscaping and garden. “Why put all this water down the drain?” he asked. “I can use it. It’s good for my plants.”

District 5 Councilwoman Jenny Kenoyer lives in a mobile home park and has a small strip of a front yard consisting of rocks and roses growing in pots. She said she has tomatoes and bell peppers growing in redwood barrels in her backyard. She said she is showering less often and collecting the water as it warms up and using it on her tomatoes, bell peppers and flowers.

District 4 Councilman Bill Zoslocki has a small lawn that is showing signs of distress where the grass gets direct sunlight. But that lawn may soon be gone. Zoslocki said he is looking into replacing it with artificial turf or drought-tolerant landscaping. “It will save water permanently,” he said.

He said that is important because even when the drought – which is now in its fourth year – ends, Modesto faces a new reality brought on by a changing climate. Zoslocki said that means water will become a more expensive and scarce resource that must be used wisely to support a variety of uses, including agriculture.

This story was originally published June 11, 2015 at 6:45 PM with the headline "How brown are those Modesto council members’ lawns?."