SYDNEY, Australia — Australia has suffered its first “water rage” death as the country confronts its seventh year of crippling drought.

Strict water restrictions have already provoked countless neighborhood feuds, but this is the first time someone has lost his life over the increasingly precious resource. Ken Proctor, 66, was watering his lawn with a hose in a Sydney suburb when a passerby, Todd Munter, 36, made a remark about him wasting water.

Proctor then reportedly turned the hose on Mr. Munter, drenching him and provoking a fight. The younger man allegedly attacked him, pushing him to the ground while kicking and punching him. Proctor suffered a massive heart attack and died in hospital. Mr. Munter was tackled by two passersby, including an off-duty policeman.

The incident happened around 5:30pm on Wednesday, meaning the victim was complying with the city’s tough water conservation regulations, which limit hose use to Wednesdays and Sundays before 10 a.m. and after 4 p.m.

Mr. Munter appeared in a Sydney court yesterday charged with murder. He faces a potential sentence of life imprisonment.

The drought, the worst for at least a century, has left much of Australia a parched dust bowl.