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NPR's Ben Bergman did a ride along with one of the fifteen Department of Water and Power's Water Cops, who patrol and respond to complaints about water wasting. It's not like riding along with a police officer, he rode with a city employee in a Toyota Prius, whose job is about trying to educate before writing citations as high as $600. Although the concept of telling the city about your water wasting neighbors doesn't go over well wtih some, LADWP's CEO David Nahai certainly has an eloquent way of putting it: "Most people report wasteful practices because they geninuly believe waste is occuring. This isn't somebody snitching as such, it's really Angelenos banding together to deal with a problem confronts all of us."
If the drought gets worse, Nahai may have to propose banning lawn watering completely. Currently, you can only water your lawns on Mondays and Thursdays and only before 9 a.m. or after 4 p.m. If you care to, you can report wasters by calling 1-800-Dial DWP or emailing waterconservationteam@ladwp.com.
