The Coachella Valley Music And Arts Festival, or as it is more simply known Coachella, is an arts and music festival held annually at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California.

Coachella has always been known for its oasis-like feel. Held on acres and acres of rolling green grass festival goers could bask in the shade of palm trees in the middle of the desert. But with California facing an unprecedented drought and Gov. Jerry Brown enacting mandatory water restrictions, many feared Coachella might look vastly different this year.

However, the Empire Polo club looks to maintain its signature green fields for the festival while simultaneously cutting water use where it can be cut. The Club uses water from wells and, like many nearby farms, receives untreated water from the Colorado River by canal.

California’s Governor issued an executive ordered that mandated a 25 percent cut in the state’s water use focusing mainly on “potable urban water usage.” According to an article by The Desert Sun The Coachella Valley Water District has interpreted this to mean that canal water use is exempt from the mandate.

“If that interpretation stands as state officials work out details, the Coachella Valley’s golf courses wouldn’t be directly subject to the mandatory water restrictions, nor would businesses such as the Empire Polo Club,” reads the article.

Coachella co-founder Paul Tollett was quoted on one of the ways they are looking to cut back on water use despite the tricky language of the order.

“What we’re going to do is put less grass in there. We’ve already started to do it because there are definitely places where it’s not needed – walkways that aren’t grass or dirt so we won’t have to water (them) down,” said Tolett.

Despite the drought and the water restrictions it would appear that festival goers can expect Coachella to be just as green and verdant as ever this year. Time will tell if next year will be any different.