The historic drought gripping the Southwest is affecting many elements of everyday life. That includes residential landscaping. Scottsdale is the latest Valley city to address overseeding.

Last week, the Scottsdale City Council approved an ordinance preventing homeowners’ associations from forcing people to overseed their lawns. Overseeding is a popular fall procedure in Arizona used to convert summer grass into a more lush winter variety. But it requires a lot of water.

While the ordinance doesn’t forbid overseeding, HOAs can no longer require it.

Cities throughout the Valley have enacted local drought plans and conservation measures. Earlier this month, Mesa also addressed overseeding, urging its residents to forgo or limit the procedure this year.

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