Even in the wettest of years, Central Oregon’s largest communities sit on or hard by the High Desert that covers much of eastern Oregon, Nevada, Idaho and Utah. Much of the area is in the midst of an extreme drought.

It’s no year to be profligate with water.

Bend and Redmond have similar rules in place: Even-numbered houses irrigate on even-numbered days, odd-numbered houses on odd ones, and no one waters on the 31st. Irrigation is prohibited during the hottest part of the day, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. in Redmond and until 5 p.m. in Bend. In addition, both communities offer a variety of tips and guides designed to help homeowners reduce the amount of water their yards require.

Communities may not be actively enforcing those rules, but that doesn’t mean they should be ignored. In Redmond, for example, the city is not patrolling to discover overeager water users, but if a neighbor calls to complain, an official will contact the offending party.

Bend officials also try to work with irrigators to assure that water use is efficient and meets the rules. The city is in the midst of a pilot program to help irrigators get the most efficient use out of sprinkler systems, says Mike Buettner, the city’s water conservation manager.

In Bend, the city’s dual-source water supply is in no danger of running out, at least for now. Over time, however, if the city and its residents use far more water than is restored by natural means, that could change.

It’s not impossible: In the Fort Rock area, farmers began pumping local groundwater in large quantities only in 1956. Just 30 years later, the state began limiting new applications to do so as the supply of water had noticeably dropped over the years. Today, water use remains restricted in the area.

Knowing all that, a little brown may not be a bad thing this year. Some neighborhoods have homeowners associations with rules that require lawns to remain green. Surely even there, a wise governing body will recognize that a little brown now can help prevent far more severe water problems in the future.