SEMINOLE COUNTY, Fla. -- Homeowners can be fined because of tough new watering rules across Central Florida, so some Seminole County homeowners want to know why some real water-wasters aren't facing any fines.

Whenever Dave Maxwell surveys some of the property around his Seminole County home, he sees lots and lots of waste.

"I'd say there's thousands of gallons. Thousands of it,” he said.

He’s referring to water flowing every hour of every day for years out of uncapped artesian wells throughout the county, flooding fields near Sanford and ditches outside Oviedo.

Maxwell wants to know why St. Johns River Water Management, which recently restricted lawn watering to one day a week, isn't cracking down on the open wells.

"They want to jump on the individual homeowners about what we're doing, but they need to clean up their own backyard before they start in on mine,” he said.

St. Johns says it plugs up to 100 wells every year, but there may be several hundred more still bubbling across Central Florida. Since most are on private property, the district has to receive a complaint before investigating. When they find one, they split the cost with the property owner to plug it.

Fifty years ago, the wells watered tens of thousands of acres of celery and cabbage; some are still used for agricultural purposes.

"I'm not trying to say that people who have cattle, or citrus groves, or a tree farm don't have the right to water it,” Maxwell said. "But to come in my yard and tell me that I can't water when they're letting millions of gallons run out on the ground, uh-uh, wrong day.”

New watering rules restrict lawn sprinkling to Saturdays only if you live at an odd-numbered address and only on Sundays if you live at an even-numbered address. There are water police out looking for violators and, the first time they're caught, they'll get a warning. But, by the third complaint, fines will start at $50 and can run all the way to $500.