In the Las Virgenes Municipal Water District, watering lawns is only permitted one day a week, so crews are on the lookout for lush lawns where they shouldn’t be.
“They call us all sorts of names … the water police, though, is the most popular one,” one district employee told KTLA.
You can tell who is violating watering restrictions even while standing on the street, said district spokesperson Mike McNutt.
“Absolutely, we know what lawns are supposed to look like,” said district spokesperson Mike McNutt.
Because of the extreme drought, the water district now is only getting 5% of the water it requested from the state, and a local reservoir is visibly depleted.
“You can see right over here, the bleached rock is the level where it was maybe two months ago,” McNutt said.
At district headquarters, violators’ water flow is being restricted using a specialized device.
Once the flow restrictor is installed, customers notice “instantly,” an employee told KTLA.
“You can’t have two people take a shower, can’t do laundry and take a shower, it’s going to be one or the other,” the employee added.
The water district said they’re not really out to police, but their job is to protect the water supply and their customers.