Irrigation Restrictions Working

Landscape maintenance professionals in Odessa, Texas be warned. The city is following up its new harsher water restrictions with rigorous citation enforcement. In the two weeks since the city put the restrictions into effect, the City of Odessa issued 47 tickets. In Midland, 51 tickets have been issued so far.

City officials say as soon as the new water restrictions went into effect, code enforcement officers hit the ground running, handing out warnings and tickets to show the situation's seriousness.

''There's a very real possibility to lose outdoor watering altogether,'' City of Odessa Spokesperson Andrea Goodson claimed.

A year ago, the City of Odessa averaged 22 million gallons of water a day. Now that number is down to an average of 13 million gallons a day.

''I think people understand the seriousness of the situation and that we need to conserve water and use it wisely,'' Goodson says.

If they don't, there will be a hefty fine and if you don't pay up, it could mean jail time. ''You could have a warrant for your arrest for a water violation,'' Goodson declared.