LAS VEGAS — About two dozen investigators patrol neighborhoods throughout Las Vegas every day searching for signs of wasted water. They're known as water waste investigators who are part of the Southern Nevada Water Authority. For more than 20 years, they have been helping conserve water in the growing desert city.
Devyn Choltko is one of the investigators with the Las Vegas Valley Water District, which is part of SNWA. The authority is comprised of several local water districts in southern Nevada that all work together to manage water resources. On an early July morning, she stops her patrol car in a neighborhood where water flows onto the street.
"Water Waste Investigator 9393," Choltko reports into her cell phone to record the incident. "Some misaligned sprinklers as well as over-irrigation causing some run-off," she continues. "Water is making its way from the property and down the gutter."
Choltko says "spray and flow" violations are among the most common problems. This is when water from a sprinkler head sprays out onto the sidewalk or street, and that's considered wasted water.
Choltko marks a yellow flag with the date, time and alleged violation, then places the marker on the property to notify the resident. The investigators can only leave the yellow flag if they have actually witnessed the violation.
"Most people don't even know they have a problem," Choltko says. That's because watering is scheduled—early morning and late at night on specific schedules that change with the season. So, most people don't see the water running since the irrigation system is automated.
Residents get a few notices to take corrective action. If they are "repeat" violators, a fine "is recommended," says Choltko. They face a fee of $80 initially, which can continue to double if ignored.
Choltko says some homeowners may have issues they aren't aware of. A homeowner, for example, may have taken proactive steps to conserve water by removing their grass and switching to desert landscaping. Succulents and drought-resistant plants should be watered using drip irrigation to get water directly to the roots and reduce evaporation. But faulty or worn-out tubes can result in water spewing onto sidewalks, Choltko explains.
"Malfunctions can cause a lot of water waste in general just because of the potential for them to get so much worse, so quickly," Choltko says.
Residents don't just get a yellow flag in their yard when there's a malfunction. The water authority follows up with a phone call to make sure the homeowner fixes the issue.
For low-income homeowners who cannot afford repairs, the SNWA can provide financial assistance to make necessary repairs. It will also provide help in detecting leaks.
A history of water patrols
More than twenty years ago, drought gripped the Colorado River Basin, which includes Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming. The ongoing drought has been especially hard for the Lower Basin states, such as Nevada.
By 2003, the Southern Nevada Water Authority, a not-for-profit water provider with a half dozen water collaborative agencies in southern Nevada, responded with several water conservation efforts, which included starting the water patrol.
At that time, about 20% of residents received citations that resulted in fines, according to the authority.
"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," says Bronson Mack, a spokesperson with the SNWA.
The goal, he says, is to educate people about the importance of water conservation and encourage people to change their behavior. That change can be as small as people taking shorter showers or reusing water for plants or cleaning.
"We collected in the neighborhood of about $1-$1.5 million over the recent years in water waste violations," says Mack. The Las Vegas Valley Water District uses those dollars to support conservation programs, such as incentives to remove turf and rebates to install smart irrigation systems.
Such efforts continue to be important. Much of the southwestern U.S. is in drought this year. But in southern Nevada, where Las Vegas is located, the drought is considered "exceptional" — the most severe category, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor. The ongoing dry conditions are a concern among millions of people who depend on the Colorado River for water.
Just east of Las Vegas, receding "bathtub rings" are etched into one of the country's largest reservoirs, Lake Mead —a reminder of how much water there once was. The reservoir provides water to Las Vegas and surrounding Clark County.
Lake Mead and Lake Powell are at less than 35% normal capacity.
Conservation efforts pay off
The Southern Nevada Water Authority has instituted a number of water conservation measures. These range from banning decorative grass to limiting pool sizes in new communities, and banning industrial and commercial businesses from using evaporative coolers. Evaporative cooling, often called swamp coolers, are less expensive than air conditioning, but use water to cool. The SNWA says evaporative cooling is the "second largest consumptive use of water" next to landscape irrigation.
SNWA also has a significant effort to recycle water that's already been used by treating it and putting it back into use. According to SNWA, it returned more than 245,000 acre-feet of water to Lake Mead in 2024.
Such water conservation efforts are paying off, according to Mack. The population of Las Vegas has grown by over 800,000 people since 2002. And, the city has seen over 40 million visitors during that time. Despite that growth, "we have reduced our consumption of Colorado River water by more than 30% over the past two decades," Mack says.
Las Vegas isn't alone in its efforts to conserve water. Other cities are also taking water conservation efforts to higher levels, including Phoenix, San Antonio, San Diego, and the Miami-Dade area.
Water conservation will be necessary as communities adapt to climate change which intensifies drought and strains water supplies, according to the nonprofit Alliance for Water Efficiency.
"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," says Ron Burke, who is the CEO and president of the non-profit Alliance for Water Efficiency.
Low levels at Lake Mead and Lake Powell are expected to continue, according to the latest data released by the Bureau of Reclamation. The Department of the Interior's Acting Assistant Secretary for Water and Science, Scott Cameron, said in a news release: "forward-thinking solutions" that prioritize conservation will be increasingly important.
As for water waste investigator Devyn Choltko, she's been working in the conservation field for six years now. Choltko grew up in southern Nevada and says she feels like she's "making a difference for her community," and her efforts will continue to make the region "a beautiful place to call home" in 50 years.
This story comes by way of the Mountain West News Bureau, an NPR regional hub, in collaboration with Nevada Public Radio in Las Vegas. The bureau is a collaboration of stations in seven states, including Nevada, Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming.
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