Texas bill aims to protect homeowners from getting fined for brown lawns during water restrictions

WILLIAMSON COUNTY, Texas - A bill in the Texas House aims to protect homeowners the next time their city says its residents need to cut back on water use.

When it's time to turn the sprinklers off because of water restrictions, Williamson County State Representative Caroline Harris Davila (R) thinks homeowners shouldn't be at fault for their dreary-looking yards.

What is House Bill 517?

What they're saying:

"We want to incentivize people to obey water restrictions and not make it difficult because they're getting fined or something," said Davila.

She filed House Bill 517. It would prevent HOAs from fining homeowners for brown grass or vegetation when their water supplier asks them to conserve during a drought.

"We're all concerned about water and drought, especially right now in Texas, and so that's another part of it is, everyone's on board with water conservation, and we all understand in times of drought, we all have to do our part," said Davila.

Water restrictions often happen in Williamson County.

Right now, Georgetown is under a Drought Stage 2 restriction, which is a one-day-per-week irrigation schedule.

"It's very hard to keep the grass green all year long, especially when we want to respect the water restrictions that we have in place," said Maricruz Acuna, a realtor in Austin. 

FOX 7 Austin asked her if she had heard of HOAs handing out fines during water restrictions.

"I don't have clients who have told me they have been fined for this, but it's good to know they can't be fined for this. You know, I think a lot of HOA's are mindful of the fact that we have water restrictions in place," said Acuna.

Fines were one concern brought up in the house's public comments.

"Ridiculous waste of time. During drought, there WILL BE discoloration of vegetation. Get busy!" a homeowner from Denison, Texas, said.

But Davila said these concerns about fines are real.

"I heard from my constituents a lot about it," said Davila. "We even had some town halls in my district about HOAs in my community and so it was important for me to answer those requests."

What's next:

If this bill passes, it would also give homeowners a 30-day grace period to get their lawns back to code before an HOA can issue a fine.

It recently passed its committee and will now head to the calendar committee. 

Then, the Texas House will vote on it. If it gets enough approval from other representatives, it will go to the Senate for a vote before landing on Governor Greg Abbott’s desk. 

It could become law on September 1, 2025.