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Millions of tourists to Las Vegas may not think twice about water conservation but residents do, and for years now, the city's water authority has been patrolling the streets to make sure water isn't wasted. Yvette Fernandez of the Mountain West News Bureau reports.
YVETTE FERNANDEZ, BYLINE: Devyn Choltko drives through a Las Vegas neighborhood with lights flashing on her patrol car. She stops when she sees water flowing down the street. Choltko is one of nearly two dozen investigators who patrol Las Vegas every day, looking for any signs of water waste. She records what she sees.
DEVYN CHOLTKO: Water Waste Investigator 9393 - it is Wednesday, July 23, at 6:14 a.m.
FERNANDEZ: In this case, a common issue - a spray and flow violation.
CHOLTKO: Misaligned sprinklers and over irrigation causing some runoff, and water's making its way from the property and down the gutter.
FERNANDEZ: Las Vegas relies on water from the Colorado River, and so do millions of other people throughout the seven states that make up the Colorado River Basin. The river's levels have dropped over the years, and drought, exacerbated by climate change, has been constant for decades.
BRONSON MACK: It's a drought, and it's a slow-moving type of natural disaster.
FERNANDEZ: This is Bronson Mack. He's a spokesperson for the Southern Nevada Water Authority.
MACK: You don't realize you're in a drought until you're already about waist deep. And it was 2002 when the Colorado River was waist deep in drought.
FERNANDEZ: So in 2003, the Southern Nevada Water Authority started water conservation efforts, including the water patrol. Since then, the water authority has conducted nearly a half million water waste investigations. Mack says at the beginning, the water patrol handed out citations to about 20% of residents.
MACK: As we look at that today, we're closer to 10% or less of property owners that have a water waste investigation take place at their property that end up receiving a fee.
FERNANDEZ: The fees start at $80 for the first violation and keep doubling if the problem isn't fixed. The collected fees are used to support other water conservation efforts, like turf removal incentives and rebates for installing smart irrigation systems. Other cities with robust water conservation efforts include Phoenix, San Antonio, Santa Monica and Miami-Dade.
RON BURKE: In order for us to sustain a dependable, affordable water supply, we will need to continue to lean more heavily into these water saving strategies.
FERNANDEZ: That's Ron Burke. He's the CEO and president of the nonprofit Alliance for Water Effectiveness (ph). Burke says these all-in comprehensive water conservation efforts will help communities adapt to climate change. These programs also help educate residents and encourage people to take their own steps, like reuse their gray water to water plants.
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FERNANDEZ: In Las Vegas, Choltko pulls her patrol car up to another house with a common problem.
CHOLTKO: You can see heavy water runoff from the property due to the irrigation leak.
FERNANDEZ: Water flows onto the sidewalk instead of going into the roots of a desert plant. Choltko calls this a malfunction.
CHOLTKO: Malfunctions can cause a lot of water waste in general, just because of the potential for them to get so much worse so quickly.
FERNANDEZ: That's why when a malfunction is spotted, Choltko doesn't just put a yellow flag in the ground about the problem. She looks up the history and notifies the team who will follow up with a phone call. The Southern Nevada Water Authority offers leak detection support and financial assistance for qualified low-income residents so they can make the necessary repairs. But Choltko says repeat violators face a penalty.
CHOLTKO: This property has been previously notified of these violations, so a fee is recommended.
FERNANDEZ: The water patrol, along with recycling water, has paid off, explains Bronson Mack, with the Water Authority.
MACK: We have reduced our consumption of Colorado River water by more than 30% over the past two decades.
FERNANDEZ: Mack says that's happened all while the city's population has grown. He says Las Vegas now supplies less water to more people than the city did 20 years ago.
For NPR News, I'm Yvette Fernandez in Las Vegas.
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