Compliance investigators keep eyes peeled for water waste violations in Las Vegas

Sunrise is just around the corner on this Las Vegas morning. It is getting brighter and brighter until it’s almost blinding.

Then suddenly, it’s gone. But it wasn’t the sun.

It was a strip of yellow flashing lights from a Las Vegas Valley Water District patrol car to alert residents that sprinkler systems are meant to water the grass, not the concrete.

That’s discouraged in the drought-stricken desert.

Devyn Choltko steps out of her car to mark the violation with a bright yellow flag.

Choltko is one of 24 Las Vegas Valley Water District compliance investigators, colloquially known as the water police, who patrol the streets looking for water waste.

Her patrol vehicle, which includes those flashing lights, is decorated with water waves and a message, “to protect and conserve.”

The violation in this case is excessive runoff. There was no fine.

Choltko considers what she does more than just a job. “This is my future,” she said of ensuring Las Vegas never runs out of water.

“I plan to be here for most of my life, so being able to make sure that my city is going to be here tomorrow is really important,” she said.

The water patrol launched in 2002, when Nevada used more than its allocated 300,000 acre-feet of water and the Colorado River experienced its lowest inflow, said Corey Enus, public outreach supervisor for the Southern Nevada Water Authority and Las Vegas Valley Water District.

That was the beginning of the two-decade drought in the West that is leaving less water flowing through the Colorado and its tributaries.

“The stark contrast to those two things let us know that we needed to start planning for something,” Enus said. “We started putting into place our progressive and aggressive water conservation measures.”

The water district has conducted more than 300,000 water waste investigations and assessed more than $5 million in fees to water wasters, Enus said. In 2023, it conducted over 46,000 field and data investigations, such as using watering data to indicate if a resident is watering on an unassigned day.

Residents can water six days a week during the summer, three times a week during the fall and spring, and once weekly in the winter.

They assign two compliance investigators to North Las Vegas and Henderson, and 20 to the water district’s jurisdiction.

Inside the patrol car, a computer sits next to the dashboard for investigators to look up property history. During their neighborhood visits, the water waste investigators walk around the property talking into their phone or iPad and take photos.

Violations can be issued for watering on the wrong day of the week, or for a water run-off — when excess water spills onto the sidewalk and down the street, Enus said.

The violations are for pop-up spray irrigation, or sprinklers using an arm or nozzle to spray water across the lawn, Choltko said. A violation would also be given to residents who don’t change their watering plan after converting to desert landscape and are watering their rocks.

For single-family homes, fines start at $80 and with two weeks to remedy the problem, like changing your watering schedule. The amount owed can double after two weeks if the problem isn’t fixed.

Residents who don’t address the issue or pay the fine risk having their water shut off, Enus said.

“Water running down the street is not doing this landscaping any good,” Enus said. “If it’s not staying on the property and doing what it’s designed to do then it’s an inefficient use of water, and that inefficient use of water is something that we can’t afford as a community.”

Any home can be at risk

A yellow flag planted by a compliance investigator in someone’s yard is the first notification that there is a water waste problem. Residents will also receive a follow-up letter in the mail detailing the problem. In extreme cases, they may also receive a phone call.

The investigator won’t knock on someone’s door. They also don’t step onto the resident’s property.

There is no limit to the number of flags placed on a lawn. One lawn, for example, was decorated with three flags to address broken sprinklers and broken emitters in their shrubs that blew off the irrigation line to cause the water to shoot out at a faster rate, Choltko said.

Older neighborhoods tend to have more malfunctions because the irrigation is older, Choltko said. But any home can be at risk for wasting water — hence the patrol.

“Anybody who has irrigation can have an irrigation leak,” Choltko said. “It doesn’t matter if you’re in a neighborhood that’s 50 years old, 20 years old or built yesterday.”

Those who are cited can also participate in an educational program of watching a 10-minute video and completing the multiple-choice “Curbing Water Waste Educational Quiz” to have their fee waived. Officials say 250 residents annually opt for the quiz.

Residents can schedule a meeting with an investigator to help fix a problem. The topic most frequently covered is changing a watering clock to correct water flowing off the property, Choltko said.

Choltko does around 30 home visits each month, with visits being more frequent in the summer because residents are able to water more.

She’s seen plenty of violations over the years, saying one of the worst malfunctions was in an HOA community where a green irrigation box flooded.

“I remember calling and calling the HOA and them not answering,” Choltko said.

Choltko understands her job is to identify when water is being wasted and help residents remedy those hiccups.

“I was born and raised here so had you told me when I was growing up that I would be working in conservation, I would have never thought so,” Choltko said. “This was just one of those opportunities that I saw to help my city that I grew up in.”

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