Water cops watching for waste in Santa Rosa (w/video)

Water wasters in Santa Rosa beware - the water cops are on patrol.

In response to the historic drought, utility workers are now driving around the city documenting evidence of runoff from irrigation systems or other violations of the city’s new mandatory water restrictions.

Six employees are starting their shifts two hours early to roam the city’s highways and byways, commercial corridors and residential streets, on the lookout for water running off lawns, over sidewalks and down storm drains.

It hasn’t been that hard to find, according to Randy Barron, a city water resources specialist.

“I’ve even tagged one of our fire stations,” Barron said.

The city initiated the “Water Waste Patrols” last month, effectively deputizing six utility workers to help Barron and his staff of about a dozen water efficiency experts educate residents about conservation and enforce the city’s water restrictions.

Reports of water waste from both the patrols and vigilant residents have been flooding in. Since March, the city has received 336 reports of water waste, 179 of them confirmed by city staff so far.

Confirmed instances of water waste or illegal daytime irrigation trigger a courtesy letter to the person on the bill for that address, explaining to them the problem and giving them 30 days to fix it, Barron said.

Doris Closs, a resident of Carissa Court near Annadel State Park, said she received one such letter recently explaining that her irrigation system was malfunctioning. Her landscaper likely bumped one of the sprinkler heads in the planter strip in front of her home, causing water to spray several feet into the street, she said.

She was unaware of the problem because her sprinklers go on at night. The issue has since been fixed, but she decided to just turn off the water to the planter strip, which was infested with crab grass, anyway, she said.

“I figured, why water the weeds?” Closs said.

The city has received a number of complaints about commercial businesses, in part because they are so visible. Commercial centers that are home to G&G Market, Costco, Starbucks and others are listed in city records as having irrigation issues.

At 9 a.m. on a recent morning, the sprinklers on the berm in front of FoodMaxx were soaking more than just the grass. They were drenching the sidewalk, too, causing water to run over the planter strip, into the street, and down the storm drain.

Barron, who was investigating the report, said the violations were twofold - irrigating outside the 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. window mandated by the state and creating excessive runoff in violation of the city ordinance, Barron said.

He took photos of the overflow with his iPhone and said a letter would be sent to the property management company.

In the vast majority of cases, the issues are resolved after the first letter, he said. People often have no idea their irrigation systems are overspraying, appreciate the information and resolve it by either adjusting the spray angles or reducing the watering times, Barron said.

Of the 179 letters sent out so far this year, only 12 cases have needed a follow-up letter. The second letter gives recipients two weeks to fix the problem and explains that if they don’t, they could receive a final warning and their water could be shut off.

No one’s water has been shut off yet, Barron said.

Some residents get particularly peeved when they notice the schools, parks or government buildings overwatering at the same time residents are being asked to conserve.

A retired Bennett Valley resident who didn’t want to give his name spotted the sprinklers at Matanzas Creek Elementary School gushing at 4:30 p.m. last week. He pulled out his phone, took images and video of the water running down the sidewalk.

“It was going for 15 to 20 minutes and it was still going when we walked away,” the 45-year resident of the area said. “I kind of got pissed off about it.”

Those areas of the campus are supposed to be irrigated at 2 a.m., said Daniel Hebel, maintenance and operations director for Rincon Valley School District. He said he’s looking into the malfunction and will get it fixed.

“We are on a well, but we don’t want to waste water,” Hebel said.

Shawn Sosa, water resources technician for the city, spends most of his time these days performing water audits for homeowners, suggesting an array of water-saving tips, such as installing low-flow faucets and shower heads or removing lawns.

But his duties also include notifying water wasters when he spots them and confirming complaints made by citizens.

On a recent early morning, Sosa drove a city-owned Toyota Prius through neighborhoods off West Third Street in the northwest section of town looking for water wasters without much luck. Few lawns were lush, some were only half green, but most were toasted crispy brown.

“We hope we don’t find anyone wasting water,” Sosa said.

It was a different story a few miles away in the posh McDonald District, where he tagged two houses in a matter of minutes. One, a stately white manse, was running its irrigation system around 6:30 a.m., after the 6 a.m. cutoff, and the water was spraying partly onto the sidewalk.

Sosa took a few photos, filled out a notice and hung it on the front door.

“These are the things we’re trying to stop,” he said.

You can reach Staff Writer Kevin McCallum at 521-5207 or kevin.mccallum@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @srcitybeat.