Anne Hartridge and Matt George said they decided to stop watering their lawn after California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger declared a statewide drought emergency June 4, the Sacramento Bee reported Wednesday.

"The whole water conservation ethic is very important to me," Hartridge said.

However, Hartridge said a neighbor complained before she could make new landscaping plans and the Code Enforcement Department slapped her and her husband with a citation after the grass went brown.

The citation declared their home a "public nuisance" under city code section 17.68.010, which requires front yards to be "irrigated, landscaped and maintained."

The couple said they were told a $746 fine is in their future unless they do something about the dead lawn.

Hartridge said she has covered the dead grass with redwood mulch but she does not know if that will allow the home to pass a re-inspection. She said the city told her it would send her information on how to bring her lawn into compliance but the information never arrived.