Maryland HOA Water Conservation

Section 1: Overview — How water conservation interacts with HOA authority in Maryland

Maryland isn't fully silent on water-related landscaping, but its single relevant statute is narrow and environmentally driven rather than a broad Western-style water-conservation mandate. Md. Code, Real Property § 2-125 prohibits any "restriction on use" — including the bylaws or rules of a condominium or homeowners association — from imposing unreasonable limitations on defined "low-impact landscaping," and it specifically bars a requirement that cultivated vegetation consist in whole or in part of turf grass.¹ Note the citation precisely: the low-impact-landscaping provision is § 2-125, not § 2-119. Section 2-119 is Maryland's separate solar-collector-system provision, a point many secondary sources get wrong.¹⁴ Section 2-125 reaches xeriscaping, rain gardens, pollinator gardens, and bio-habitat gardens, but it doesn't create a general drought-landscaping, artificial-turf, irrigation, graywater, or rainwater-harvesting right.¹

Everything not covered by § 2-125 is governed by the recorded declaration and CC&Rs, the association's architectural-control provisions, the Maryland Condominium Act, § 11-101 et seq., for condominiums, the Homeowners Association Act, Title 11B, for planned communities, nonstock-corporation formalities, and local water-utility rules.^5,6 Maryland's state water-resource law — regulated-riparian withdrawal permitting the Maryland Department of the Environment administers — governs who may withdraw water, and it doesn't bear on an HOA's authority over landscaping.¹¹ Nationally, Maryland sits with the CC&R-governed states rather than the drought-statute states — California, Arizona, Nevada, Colorado, Texas, Florida — differing in that it carries one partial, Chesapeake-Bay-driven landscaping provision.⁴ What follows details the statutory framework, related water law, and where water rules actually live.

Section 2: The statutory and regulatory framework

2A. Statutory limits on HOA authority over water-efficient landscaping

Maryland has no broad statute of the kind found in drought-exposed states. Search the Real Property Article, and the Condominium Act, § 11-101 et seq., and the Homeowners Association Act, Title 11B — where a water-conservation or xeriscape carve-out would appear — contain none.^5,6 What Maryland does have is § 2-125, a targeted provision in Title 2, Rules of Construction, that applies across deeds, declarations, contracts, and condominium/HOA bylaws and rules. It says a restriction on use "may not impose or act to impose unreasonable limitations on low-impact landscaping," provided the owner owns or has exclusive use of the property and "maintains and regularly tends to the low-impact landscaping."¹ "Low-impact landscaping" is defined as techniques that conserve water, lower maintenance costs, provide pollution prevention, and create wildlife habitat, and the statute enumerates bio-habitat gardens, pollinator gardens, rain gardens, and xeriscaping.¹ An "unreasonable limitation" includes one that significantly increases the cost of low-impact landscaping, significantly decreases its efficiency, or requires cultivated vegetation to consist in whole or in part of turf grass.¹

To make the absence of a fuller statute concrete, compare the drought-driven models. California's Civil Code § 4735(a) makes a governing-document provision "void and unenforceable" if it "[p]rohibits, or includes conditions that have the effect of prohibiting, the use of low water-using plants as a group" or prohibits "the use of artificial turf or any other synthetic surface that resembles grass," and separately bars fines against homeowners who reduce or eliminate watering during a declared drought emergency.⁴ Florida's § 373.185(3)(b) provides that "[a] deed restriction or covenant may not prohibit or be enforced so as to prohibit any property owner from implementing Florida-friendly landscaping on his or her land."¹⁵ Texas Property Code § 202.007 protects drought-resistant landscaping and water-conserving turf against property-owners'-association restrictions.¹⁶ Maryland's § 2-125 is the narrower Chesapeake-driven analog: it's aimed at pollution prevention and wildlife habitat, Bay protection, reaches xeriscaping and rain gardens as a subset, and preserves the HOA's power to set reasonable aesthetic guidelines.¹ It's neither a full drought-landscaping shield nor nonexistent.

2B. Related water law, drought response, rainwater and graywater

Maryland allocates water through a regulated-riparian permitting system: a Water Appropriation and Use Permit from the Maryland Department of the Environment is required to withdraw surface or groundwater, under Environment Article Title 5.¹¹ This governs water withdrawal, not HOA landscaping authority, and is background context only. Maryland manages drought through MDE's staged system — watch, warning, emergency. On May 14, 2026, MDE announced that "large areas of the state are under a drought warning" with "no statewide water shortages or restrictions," while Baltimore City issued voluntary restrictions and the Town of Middletown in Frederick County prohibited lawn watering; MDE Secretary Serena McIlwain said, "Every drop counts when it comes to the smart use of water... By voluntarily conserving water today, we can avoid stricter mandates in the future."⁷ Per the same release, "a statewide drought emergency with mandatory water use restrictions was declared in 1999," the last such instance.⁷ The statewide mandatory Level One restriction mechanism is aimed at water users and suppliers; it doesn't reach or suspend private HOA enforcement against dormant or unwatered lawns.³

On rainwater and graywater: § 2-125 protects "rain gardens," which return rainwater to soil, as low-impact landscaping, but it names no rain-barrel or rainwater-collection right — rain-barrel installation remains subject to CC&Rs and architectural review, plus voluntary county programs.¹ Graywater reuse is authorized under Md. Code, Environment § 9-1112, enacted 2018, which permits residential graywater use for gardening, lawn watering, and landscape irrigation subject to MDE regulation, but the statute stays silent as to HOA authority.²

2C. Where water-conservation rules actually live in Maryland

For most water-related landscaping questions, the operative rulebook is the recorded declaration and the association's architectural-control provisions, not any state water statute.⁵ For condominiums, the Condominium Act supplies the general use-restriction and rulemaking framework: under § 11-111, a council of unit owners may adopt rules only after written notice, an open comment meeting, and a majority vote, and a rule may not be inconsistent with the declaration or bylaws.¹⁷ Non-condominium planned communities operate under the separate Homeowners Association Act, Title 11B, which is equally silent on water conservation and whose provisions may not be varied to waive owners' rights, under § 11B-103.^6,18 The practically controlling owner-facing water-use rules come from local water utilities.⁸ The operational takeaway for a manager searching for "Maryland HOA water conservation law": the rulebook is the declaration and the local water utility's rules, supplemented only by the narrow § 2-125 low-impact-landscaping protection — not any HOA-specific water statute.

Section 3: What the framework requires of HOAs

A. Landscaping approval and architectural review

Under § 2-125, an HOA may not enforce a covenant or rule that imposes unreasonable limitations on low-impact landscaping — xeriscaping, rain gardens, pollinator or bio-habitat gardens — or that requires turf grass, though it retains authority to apply reasonable design and aesthetic guidelines on type, number, and location.¹ All other landscaping changes — artificial turf, hardscape, irrigation systems, rain barrels — remain subject to the declaration's architectural-review provisions.⁵

B. Drought response and watering restrictions

Any owner-facing watering limit derives from the local water utility. Baltimore City DPW issued regional voluntary restrictions asking customers to postpone lawn and garden watering, and WSSC Water customers fall under Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments drought stages.^8,9 Maryland has no statute suspending HOA enforcement against brown or dormant lawns during drought; a board's forbearance is discretionary, not statutorily required.³

C. Rule adoption and disclosure

Rule adoption for condominiums requires notice, an open meeting, and a majority vote, and rules may not conflict with the declaration or bylaws, under § 11-111 — these procedural minimums cannot be varied away.¹⁷ For planned communities, Title 11B's disclosure and dispute provisions apply, and the title's protections may not be waived, under § 11B-103.¹⁸

D. Enforcement limits and conflicts

Enforcement of a turf-grass mandate or a ban on qualifying low-impact landscaping is void as against a maintaining owner, under § 2-125.¹ Where a CC&R requires a green, irrigated lawn while a local utility imposes a watering advisory, that tension plays out between a private contract and a local rule, resolved under general contract and property law and the reasonableness principles Maryland courts apply to covenant enforcement — not under any water-conservation statute.⁹

Section 4: Recent legislative and judicial activity

A. Recent bills

No qualifying bill affecting HOA authority over water-efficient landscaping, drought enforcement, rainwater, or graywater appeared in the 2025 or 2026 Regular Sessions. Section 2-125 hasn't been amended since its enactment by HB 322, 2021, Chapter 368, effective October 1, 2021.¹² The only turf-related measure in the recent window, HB 321 (2026), concerns a synthetic-turf industry and disposal study deadline and doesn't touch HOA landscaping authority.¹³ For reference, the foundational enactment:

B. Recent appellate rulings

No published Maryland appellate ruling from the past 36 months turns on HOA authority over water-conservation or water-efficient landscaping specifically. Two decisions bear on the general covenant-enforcement framework within which such disputes would be resolved. The Crouch pollinator-garden dispute in Howard County, which catalyzed HB 322, ended in a pretrial settlement in December 2020 and produced no published opinion.¹⁹

A separate 2025 unreported decision, Vargas v. Franklin Farms Homeowners Association, addressed enforcement of an architectural covenant against an unapproved patio. It illustrates routine covenant enforcement but is unreported and non-precedential.²⁰

C. Active legislative debates

No active Maryland legislative debate specific to HOA water conservation or water-efficient landscaping exists for the 2026 session.

Section 5: National positioning and related coverage

On a water-conservation-specific axis, distinct from governing-statute clustering, states fall into three groups. The first has statutes limiting HOA authority over water-efficient landscaping, concentrated in drought-exposed jurisdictions: California, Civ. Code § 4735, Arizona, Nevada, Colorado, Texas, Prop. Code § 202.007, Florida, Fla. Stat. § 373.185, Utah, and others.^4,15,16 The second has partial or emerging provisions. The third is silent, CC&R-governed states, which include the Chesapeake-region states carrying partial, environmentally driven provisions; Maryland belongs here, its § 2-125 low-impact-landscaping protection being Bay-driven rather than scarcity-driven.¹ For a firm operating across state lines, the practical point is direct: don't assume California's or Nevada's drought-driven xeriscape and artificial-turf protections apply in Maryland, where only living low-impact landscaping is protected and turf mandates — not turf itself — are the target.¹ Maryland shows no legislative momentum toward a broader drought-landscaping statute; § 2-125 has stood unamended since 2021.¹²

HOA Weekly's Maryland water-conservation coverage updates quarterly as the legislature and the courts act. For Maryland communities, the practically controlling water rules are the declaration and the local water utility, not any state water statute. Federal frameworks apply to Maryland associations regardless of state law — the Fair Housing Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act, and the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act among them.

Footnotes

1. Md. Code, Real Property § 2-125 (Low-Impact Landscaping), official statute text, Maryland General Assembly ↩
2. Md. Code, Environment § 9-1112 (Residential Use of Graywater), Maryland Department of the Environment, Graywater Reuse program page ↩
3. "Level One Mandatory Water Use Restrictions," Maryland Department of the Environment (mechanism directed at water users/suppliers, not HOA enforcement) ↩
4. Cal. Civil Code § 4735 (as amended by AB 349, 2015): governing-document provisions prohibiting low water-using plants or artificial turf are void and unenforceable; drought-emergency protections, California Legislative Information ↩
5. Md. Code, Real Property § 11-101 through § 11-143 (Maryland Condominium Act) and CC&R framework, summarized by the Maryland People's Law Library (Maryland Judiciary) ↩
6. Md. Code, Real Property Title 11B (Maryland Homeowners Association Act), section index (no water-conservation provision) ↩
7. "Maryland Department of the Environment Issues Drought Warning," MDE news release, May 14, 2026 (no statewide restrictions; 1999 last statewide mandatory restrictions; Secretary McIlwain quotation) ↩
8. "Baltimore City DPW Issues Regional Voluntary Water Restrictions," Baltimore City Department of Public Works (voluntary restrictions across Baltimore City and Baltimore, Harford, Howard, Carroll counties) ↩
9. "Conservation Tips," WSSC Water (Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments Drought Watch declared June 3, 2026; voluntary outdoor water-use guidance) ↩
10. "Utility Billing Information," Anne Arundel County Government (outdoor-use "excess use credit"; county water/wastewater utility rules) ↩
11. Maryland Water Appropriation or Use Permit (regulated-riparian withdrawal permitting under Environment Article Title 5), Maryland Department of the Environment ↩
12. HB 322 (2021 Regular Session), "Real Property – Restrictions on Use – Low-Impact Landscaping," enacted as Chapter 368, effective October 1, 2021, sponsored by Delegates Hill and Feldmark, Maryland General Assembly ↩
13. HB 321 (2026 Regular Session), "Environment – Synthetic Turf Industry and Disposal Study – Deadline Extension" (disposal study, not HOA landscaping authority), Maryland General Assembly ↩
14. Md. Code, Real Property § 2-119 (Covenants Restricting Installation of Solar Collector Systems), official statute text, Maryland General Assembly ↩
15. Fla. Stat. § 373.185(3)(b): a deed restriction or covenant may not prohibit Florida-friendly landscaping, The Florida Senate ↩
16. Tex. Prop. Code § 202.007 (property owners' association may not prohibit drought-resistant landscaping or water-conserving natural turf), Texas Statutes ↩
17. Md. Code, Real Property § 11-111 (Rules and Regulations), Maryland Condominium Act (rule-adoption notice, open meeting, majority vote; rule may not be inconsistent with declaration or bylaws) ↩
18. Md. Code, Real Property § 11B-103 (Variance of Title's Provisions and Waiver of Rights Prohibited), Maryland Homeowners Association Act text ↩
19. Logan v. Dietz, 258 Md. App. 629 (2023), Appellate Court of Maryland, reported opinion (Md. Judiciary); notes the Court of Special Appeals name change to Appellate Court of Maryland effective December 14, 2022 ↩
20. Vargas v. Franklin Farms Homeowners Association Inc., No. 0282, Sept. Term 2024, Appellate Court of Maryland, filed April 22, 2025 (unreported opinion, Maryland Judiciary) ↩

Section 1: Overview — How water conservation interacts with HOA authority in Maryland

Maryland isn't fully silent on water-related landscaping, but its single relevant statute is narrow and environmentally driven rather than a broad Western-style water-conservation mandate. Md. Code, Real Property § 2-125 prohibits any "restriction on use" — including the bylaws or rules of a condominium or homeowners association — from imposing unreasonable limitations on defined "low-impact landscaping," and it specifically bars a requirement that cultivated vegetation consist in whole or in part of turf grass.¹ Note the citation precisely: the low-impact-landscaping provision is § 2-125, not § 2-119. Section 2-119 is Maryland's separate solar-collector-system provision, a point many secondary sources get wrong.¹⁴ Section 2-125 reaches xeriscaping, rain gardens, pollinator gardens, and bio-habitat gardens, but it doesn't create a general drought-landscaping, artificial-turf, irrigation, graywater, or rainwater-harvesting right.¹

Everything not covered by § 2-125 is governed by the recorded declaration and CC&Rs, the association's architectural-control provisions, the Maryland Condominium Act, § 11-101 et seq., for condominiums, the Homeowners Association Act, Title 11B, for planned communities, nonstock-corporation formalities, and local water-utility rules.^5,6 Maryland's state water-resource law — regulated-riparian withdrawal permitting the Maryland Department of the Environment administers — governs who may withdraw water, and it doesn't bear on an HOA's authority over landscaping.¹¹ Nationally, Maryland sits with the CC&R-governed states rather than the drought-statute states — California, Arizona, Nevada, Colorado, Texas, Florida — differing in that it carries one partial, Chesapeake-Bay-driven landscaping provision.⁴ What follows details the statutory framework, related water law, and where water rules actually live.

Section 2: The statutory and regulatory framework

2A. Statutory limits on HOA authority over water-efficient landscaping

Maryland has no broad statute of the kind found in drought-exposed states. Search the Real Property Article, and the Condominium Act, § 11-101 et seq., and the Homeowners Association Act, Title 11B — where a water-conservation or xeriscape carve-out would appear — contain none.^5,6 What Maryland does have is § 2-125, a targeted provision in Title 2, Rules of Construction, that applies across deeds, declarations, contracts, and condominium/HOA bylaws and rules. It says a restriction on use "may not impose or act to impose unreasonable limitations on low-impact landscaping," provided the owner owns or has exclusive use of the property and "maintains and regularly tends to the low-impact landscaping."¹ "Low-impact landscaping" is defined as techniques that conserve water, lower maintenance costs, provide pollution prevention, and create wildlife habitat, and the statute enumerates bio-habitat gardens, pollinator gardens, rain gardens, and xeriscaping.¹ An "unreasonable limitation" includes one that significantly increases the cost of low-impact landscaping, significantly decreases its efficiency, or requires cultivated vegetation to consist in whole or in part of turf grass.¹

To make the absence of a fuller statute concrete, compare the drought-driven models. California's Civil Code § 4735(a) makes a governing-document provision "void and unenforceable" if it "[p]rohibits, or includes conditions that have the effect of prohibiting, the use of low water-using plants as a group" or prohibits "the use of artificial turf or any other synthetic surface that resembles grass," and separately bars fines against homeowners who reduce or eliminate watering during a declared drought emergency.⁴ Florida's § 373.185(3)(b) provides that "[a] deed restriction or covenant may not prohibit or be enforced so as to prohibit any property owner from implementing Florida-friendly landscaping on his or her land."¹⁵ Texas Property Code § 202.007 protects drought-resistant landscaping and water-conserving turf against property-owners'-association restrictions.¹⁶ Maryland's § 2-125 is the narrower Chesapeake-driven analog: it's aimed at pollution prevention and wildlife habitat, Bay protection, reaches xeriscaping and rain gardens as a subset, and preserves the HOA's power to set reasonable aesthetic guidelines.¹ It's neither a full drought-landscaping shield nor nonexistent.

2B. Related water law, drought response, rainwater and graywater

Maryland allocates water through a regulated-riparian permitting system: a Water Appropriation and Use Permit from the Maryland Department of the Environment is required to withdraw surface or groundwater, under Environment Article Title 5.¹¹ This governs water withdrawal, not HOA landscaping authority, and is background context only. Maryland manages drought through MDE's staged system — watch, warning, emergency. On May 14, 2026, MDE announced that "large areas of the state are under a drought warning" with "no statewide water shortages or restrictions," while Baltimore City issued voluntary restrictions and the Town of Middletown in Frederick County prohibited lawn watering; MDE Secretary Serena McIlwain said, "Every drop counts when it comes to the smart use of water... By voluntarily conserving water today, we can avoid stricter mandates in the future."⁷ Per the same release, "a statewide drought emergency with mandatory water use restrictions was declared in 1999," the last such instance.⁷ The statewide mandatory Level One restriction mechanism is aimed at water users and suppliers; it doesn't reach or suspend private HOA enforcement against dormant or unwatered lawns.³

On rainwater and graywater: § 2-125 protects "rain gardens," which return rainwater to soil, as low-impact landscaping, but it names no rain-barrel or rainwater-collection right — rain-barrel installation remains subject to CC&Rs and architectural review, plus voluntary county programs.¹ Graywater reuse is authorized under Md. Code, Environment § 9-1112, enacted 2018, which permits residential graywater use for gardening, lawn watering, and landscape irrigation subject to MDE regulation, but the statute stays silent as to HOA authority.²

2C. Where water-conservation rules actually live in Maryland

For most water-related landscaping questions, the operative rulebook is the recorded declaration and the association's architectural-control provisions, not any state water statute.⁵ For condominiums, the Condominium Act supplies the general use-restriction and rulemaking framework: under § 11-111, a council of unit owners may adopt rules only after written notice, an open comment meeting, and a majority vote, and a rule may not be inconsistent with the declaration or bylaws.¹⁷ Non-condominium planned communities operate under the separate Homeowners Association Act, Title 11B, which is equally silent on water conservation and whose provisions may not be varied to waive owners' rights, under § 11B-103.^6,18 The practically controlling owner-facing water-use rules come from local water utilities.⁸ The operational takeaway for a manager searching for "Maryland HOA water conservation law": the rulebook is the declaration and the local water utility's rules, supplemented only by the narrow § 2-125 low-impact-landscaping protection — not any HOA-specific water statute.

Section 3: What the framework requires of HOAs

A. Landscaping approval and architectural review

Under § 2-125, an HOA may not enforce a covenant or rule that imposes unreasonable limitations on low-impact landscaping — xeriscaping, rain gardens, pollinator or bio-habitat gardens — or that requires turf grass, though it retains authority to apply reasonable design and aesthetic guidelines on type, number, and location.¹ All other landscaping changes — artificial turf, hardscape, irrigation systems, rain barrels — remain subject to the declaration's architectural-review provisions.⁵

B. Drought response and watering restrictions

Any owner-facing watering limit derives from the local water utility. Baltimore City DPW issued regional voluntary restrictions asking customers to postpone lawn and garden watering, and WSSC Water customers fall under Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments drought stages.^8,9 Maryland has no statute suspending HOA enforcement against brown or dormant lawns during drought; a board's forbearance is discretionary, not statutorily required.³

C. Rule adoption and disclosure

Rule adoption for condominiums requires notice, an open meeting, and a majority vote, and rules may not conflict with the declaration or bylaws, under § 11-111 — these procedural minimums cannot be varied away.¹⁷ For planned communities, Title 11B's disclosure and dispute provisions apply, and the title's protections may not be waived, under § 11B-103.¹⁸

D. Enforcement limits and conflicts

Enforcement of a turf-grass mandate or a ban on qualifying low-impact landscaping is void as against a maintaining owner, under § 2-125.¹ Where a CC&R requires a green, irrigated lawn while a local utility imposes a watering advisory, that tension plays out between a private contract and a local rule, resolved under general contract and property law and the reasonableness principles Maryland courts apply to covenant enforcement — not under any water-conservation statute.⁹

Section 4: Recent legislative and judicial activity

A. Recent bills

No qualifying bill affecting HOA authority over water-efficient landscaping, drought enforcement, rainwater, or graywater appeared in the 2025 or 2026 Regular Sessions. Section 2-125 hasn't been amended since its enactment by HB 322, 2021, Chapter 368, effective October 1, 2021.¹² The only turf-related measure in the recent window, HB 321 (2026), concerns a synthetic-turf industry and disposal study deadline and doesn't touch HOA landscaping authority.¹³ For reference, the foundational enactment:

B. Recent appellate rulings

No published Maryland appellate ruling from the past 36 months turns on HOA authority over water-conservation or water-efficient landscaping specifically. Two decisions bear on the general covenant-enforcement framework within which such disputes would be resolved. The Crouch pollinator-garden dispute in Howard County, which catalyzed HB 322, ended in a pretrial settlement in December 2020 and produced no published opinion.¹⁹

A separate 2025 unreported decision, Vargas v. Franklin Farms Homeowners Association, addressed enforcement of an architectural covenant against an unapproved patio. It illustrates routine covenant enforcement but is unreported and non-precedential.²⁰

C. Active legislative debates

No active Maryland legislative debate specific to HOA water conservation or water-efficient landscaping exists for the 2026 session.

Section 5: National positioning and related coverage

On a water-conservation-specific axis, distinct from governing-statute clustering, states fall into three groups. The first has statutes limiting HOA authority over water-efficient landscaping, concentrated in drought-exposed jurisdictions: California, Civ. Code § 4735, Arizona, Nevada, Colorado, Texas, Prop. Code § 202.007, Florida, Fla. Stat. § 373.185, Utah, and others.^4,15,16 The second has partial or emerging provisions. The third is silent, CC&R-governed states, which include the Chesapeake-region states carrying partial, environmentally driven provisions; Maryland belongs here, its § 2-125 low-impact-landscaping protection being Bay-driven rather than scarcity-driven.¹ For a firm operating across state lines, the practical point is direct: don't assume California's or Nevada's drought-driven xeriscape and artificial-turf protections apply in Maryland, where only living low-impact landscaping is protected and turf mandates — not turf itself — are the target.¹ Maryland shows no legislative momentum toward a broader drought-landscaping statute; § 2-125 has stood unamended since 2021.¹²

HOA Weekly's Maryland water-conservation coverage updates quarterly as the legislature and the courts act. For Maryland communities, the practically controlling water rules are the declaration and the local water utility, not any state water statute. Federal frameworks apply to Maryland associations regardless of state law — the Fair Housing Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act, and the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act among them.

Footnotes

1. Md. Code, Real Property § 2-125 (Low-Impact Landscaping), official statute text, Maryland General Assembly ↩
2. Md. Code, Environment § 9-1112 (Residential Use of Graywater), Maryland Department of the Environment, Graywater Reuse program page ↩
3. "Level One Mandatory Water Use Restrictions," Maryland Department of the Environment (mechanism directed at water users/suppliers, not HOA enforcement) ↩
4. Cal. Civil Code § 4735 (as amended by AB 349, 2015): governing-document provisions prohibiting low water-using plants or artificial turf are void and unenforceable; drought-emergency protections, California Legislative Information ↩
5. Md. Code, Real Property § 11-101 through § 11-143 (Maryland Condominium Act) and CC&R framework, summarized by the Maryland People's Law Library (Maryland Judiciary) ↩
6. Md. Code, Real Property Title 11B (Maryland Homeowners Association Act), section index (no water-conservation provision) ↩
7. "Maryland Department of the Environment Issues Drought Warning," MDE news release, May 14, 2026 (no statewide restrictions; 1999 last statewide mandatory restrictions; Secretary McIlwain quotation) ↩
8. "Baltimore City DPW Issues Regional Voluntary Water Restrictions," Baltimore City Department of Public Works (voluntary restrictions across Baltimore City and Baltimore, Harford, Howard, Carroll counties) ↩
9. "Conservation Tips," WSSC Water (Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments Drought Watch declared June 3, 2026; voluntary outdoor water-use guidance) ↩
10. "Utility Billing Information," Anne Arundel County Government (outdoor-use "excess use credit"; county water/wastewater utility rules) ↩
11. Maryland Water Appropriation or Use Permit (regulated-riparian withdrawal permitting under Environment Article Title 5), Maryland Department of the Environment ↩
12. HB 322 (2021 Regular Session), "Real Property – Restrictions on Use – Low-Impact Landscaping," enacted as Chapter 368, effective October 1, 2021, sponsored by Delegates Hill and Feldmark, Maryland General Assembly ↩
13. HB 321 (2026 Regular Session), "Environment – Synthetic Turf Industry and Disposal Study – Deadline Extension" (disposal study, not HOA landscaping authority), Maryland General Assembly ↩
14. Md. Code, Real Property § 2-119 (Covenants Restricting Installation of Solar Collector Systems), official statute text, Maryland General Assembly ↩
15. Fla. Stat. § 373.185(3)(b): a deed restriction or covenant may not prohibit Florida-friendly landscaping, The Florida Senate ↩
16. Tex. Prop. Code § 202.007 (property owners' association may not prohibit drought-resistant landscaping or water-conserving natural turf), Texas Statutes ↩
17. Md. Code, Real Property § 11-111 (Rules and Regulations), Maryland Condominium Act (rule-adoption notice, open meeting, majority vote; rule may not be inconsistent with declaration or bylaws) ↩
18. Md. Code, Real Property § 11B-103 (Variance of Title's Provisions and Waiver of Rights Prohibited), Maryland Homeowners Association Act text ↩
19. Logan v. Dietz, 258 Md. App. 629 (2023), Appellate Court of Maryland, reported opinion (Md. Judiciary); notes the Court of Special Appeals name change to Appellate Court of Maryland effective December 14, 2022 ↩
20. Vargas v. Franklin Farms Homeowners Association Inc., No. 0282, Sept. Term 2024, Appellate Court of Maryland, filed April 22, 2025 (unreported opinion, Maryland Judiciary) ↩