Looking for His glorious appearing! Titus 2:13

In the more affluent areas of California, the manicured gardens are still lush and green, fountains flow and Bentleys sparkle after their morning wash.

There is little to suggest the Golden State is experiencing its worst drought for more than a century.

Despite desperate pleas from politicians to conserve water, lawns are being lavished like never before and consumption of the state’s most precious commodity has actually increased over the past year. Now, in an unprecedented step, California is introducing fines of up to US$500 a day for citizens deemed to be wasting water.

Starting next month, spot checks will be carried out and fines imposed for profligate offences, such as washing a vehicle using a hose without a nozzle, watering lawns to the extent water runs on to the sidewalk, washing driveways or patios, and having fountains that do not recirculate.

In January, Jerry Brown, the California governor, called for a state-wide 20% reduction in water use amid the worst drought we have ever seen, which has already lasted three years. But he was roundly ignored and consumption has risen by 1% over the past year.

Felicia Marcus, head of the State Water Quality Control Board, said residents were still not fully aware of the seriousness of the drought and fining them was a historic step.

Our goal here is to light a fire under those who aren’t yet taking the drought seriously, she said.

We’re all in this together. This is our attempt to say this is the least that urban Californians can do.

Outside the still-green confines of Beverly Hills or Silicon Valley, California is turning increasingly brown. Nearly 80% of it is now classified as under extreme or exceptional drought conditions.

This has led to raging wildfires. which are expected to intensify over the summer. Since Jan 1, firefighters have tackled 3,000 blazes, including one last week that destroyed 4,000 hectares in the north of the state.

The rings in California’s ancient sequoia trees suggest the area has not seen such a lack of rain since 1580, about the time Sir Francis Drake arrived off the coast.

Downtown Los Angeles has had less rain than at any time since records began in 1877. In Sacramento, the lawn outside the state capitol is brown.

Farmers have been bearing the brunt with the Central Valley, which produces 50% of the U.S. fruit and vegetables under severe threat. Some areas there have received less rain than Death Valley in recent years.

The fines for residents are estimated to help save enough water to supply more than 3.5 million people for a year.

Los Angeles has been restricting the watering of lawns to three days a week since 2009 and recently increased payments to residents who voluntarily uproot their grass to US$3 a square foot.