Cape Coral homeowners who water their grass too often will have to empty out their wallets. The city council just approved new fines that are double what they were before. First-time violators now will get a warning. But after that, it could range as high as 400-dollars if homeowners water their grass more than twice a week. Cape Coral Mayor Eric Feichthaler says an exploding population and a lack of rain are too blame.

“We’re not out of the dry season yet. We still are very low in the aquifer. We’re very low in our canals. And in the next couple of months, I hope we have a very good rainy season and the issue is alleviated while we were our making these other solutions to make it a long term fix.”

Feichthaler says 70 Cape Coral homeowners have had their wells run dry this year. He blames it on excessive landscape watering.