DENVER — As Colorado continues to suffer through harsh drought conditions, the Colorado legislature passed a bill seeking to remove barriers for some residents to save water on lawn watering.
Around 60% of Coloradans live under a homeowner association. If signed into law, Senate Bill 178 would allow those homeowners to swap their grass lawns for landscaping that needs less water to maintain, forcing HOAs to accept the alternative landscaping.
The bill passed its final legislative vote on Wednesday, now only needing the governor's signature to become law.
>Video above from March: Colorado River levels continue to drop.
"We've been in a mega-drought for about two decades and we have to find every way possible to utilize water more efficiently, especially in outdoor spaces," said bill sponsor Rep. Karen McCormick, D-Longmont. "We have many homeowners across our state that want to and can be part of the solutions to these problems, but are finding themselves blocked or discouraged from doing so by some barriers in their HOA rules."
Under current law, HOAs cannot entirely prohibit low-water landscaping, but, in practice, such proposals are often rejected for subjective aesthetic reasons, bill sponsors said. Current law also does not require the landscaping review process to be transparent, fair or timely. Because of this, sponsors said homeowners often don't know how the process works or what landscaping will be accepted.
> Watch 9NEWS original shows, live Colorado news and weather updates, daily forecasts, and sports coverage for free on the 9NEWS+ app on Roku and Fire TV.
SUGGESTED VIDEOS: Politics
9NEWS+ has multiple live daily shows including 9NEWS Mornings, Next with Kyle Clark and 9NEWS+ Daily, an original streaming program. 9NEWS+ is where you can watch live breaking news, weather updates, and press conferences. You can also replay recent newscasts and find videos on demand of our top stories, local politics, investigations and Colorado specific features.
To download 9NEWS+ on Roku search for KUSA.
To download 9NEWS+ on Fire TV search for 9NEWS.