It sounds like a potential future problem, potentially legal, which is best not put on the internet...


As a President, the easiest fix would be to get an accurate reading at all the heads, get a written vote from the rest of the board, and give a credit to their upkeep of that "common area" based upon a consistent watering schedule.
Or if permanently-dividing the water is needed, get board approval and tap/meter to the location from another common source at great expense.

If the by-laws specifically state that there are no "common areas", then they might have the right to shut off the water flowing to property outside their "ownership", they might have claim to that property through squatters rights, grounds for objecting to the terms of the original HOA/deed, and/or have grounds to recover those past costs.

(Interesting situation. I don't know the specifics and I'm not an attorney with knowledge of local laws or HOA documents. The best plan would be to solve the problem and be done with it.)

Its not a problem. I think its a $15-$20/month solution and we'll settle it. I just posted this for the "math" or lack there of, on her part.

It appears to me to be not only the Math, but the English too.

So there is a meter for the water that goes to the island, yes?

She can just get a break on her HOA dues for whatever it works out to be, that sounds like the Treasurer's job to me.

When I lived in Texas the water sort of sucked compared to here. It was this little water district, I was at the end of a run, and would have to go crack open the hydrant on the end occasionally when the water would get a bit rusty. There was a high base price, with like 10,000 gal of usage before you got billed for it. We only recently got meters here, before you were billed for water based on size of lot. Water tastes better here than it did in Texas.

Don, I don't think stolen is the correct term.

There still could be potential problems: The sprinkler heads and/or the course running under the road could be compromised which would end up on their bill. Conversely they might claim to drink bottled water and take one brief shower per week until you notice the new pool in the backyard, etc, etc...

Too many variables, which could all be solved with common sense.

why not just shut the thing off for a billing cycle and note the difference?

LOL! Good stuff. Now you know the kind of crap architects deal with every day trying to explain technical issues to laypeople... It's enough to make you want to pound yourself in the forehead with a ball peen hammer after a while...

Hugh, how much does a few bags of gravel and a rake cost? I'd turn the island into a desert island...

Good point.

Depending on how your regs are written that's a valid concern. Unlikely but still valid.

If it's her property, and her water, then tell her that she should just turn the valve to the right and stop watering it. Problem solved.