For nearly 20 years.

Wastewater investigators with the Las Vegas Valley Water District have been patrolling our streets looking for wastewater violations.

Nevada week's Maria Selva joins us now.

And Maria, while not part of their official title, they are also known as water.

And Amber, I'm told that it is a term they have learned to embrace.

And you better believe that in a 24 seven town, 24 hour town.

Right.

They are out and about patrolling 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

They are very busy.

Now, we tagged along with one of these waterways investigators to find out what they're looking out for when it comes to those waterways violations, plus the fines that you could face if you get one.

Waterways Investigators, eight, seven, seven six.

Waterways.

Investigator eight, seven, seven, six is Cameron Donnarumma, one of eight investigators who make up the Las Vegas Valley Water District's Water patrol.

A lot of people do call us water cops or water police for short.

So, I mean, that is fine with me.

And they are definitely ready to protect and conserve.

24 seven.

So, yeah, it is a flashy vehicle with the amber lights.

The number one thing is we do try to get attention when we're in neighborhoods so people see that we're in their community.

We are patrolling.

On this particular morning, homeowners in this neighborhood, part of watering group.

See, we're watering their lawns on one of their assigned days.

But Cameron was still on the lookout for water waste violations.

As you can see, there's kind of water leaving the property, going all the way down the street into the gutter.

This could be due to overspray misaligned spray heads, sometimes over irrigation.

Sometimes homeowners have their run set for just too long, which causes the water to just run off right off the yard.

The next step involves a quick online search for any previous violations.

So this particular property doesn't have any previous history of any water waste violations.

So this will be considered a warning.

That warning comes in the form of a door hanger.

Our number one goal is education.

So we definitely will leave a door hanger that contains all the information.

Sometimes if it's during business hours, we'll try to attempt to make contact with the homeowner.

If the homeowner does have a history of similar waterways violations in the past 18 months, they could face hefty fines.

Most single family homes starting fees starts at $80.

If the waterways violation is not corrected, it does double.

So it goes from $80 to 160 and so on.

A big part of a waterways investigators job helping the homeowner fix the problem.

Sometimes how some homeowners don't know how to work their irrigation control improperly.

So some of them have to be instructed to show them how to water on the correct days or if they need advice or tips on how to avoid water running off their properties.

I would say most people appreciate our presence and they understand why this is necessary, why this is important.

So I think most people do appreciate our presence in the community.

Cameron is extremely proud of the work he is doing to help conserve one of our most precious resources.

So I've been doing this for almost four years.

My favorite part of this job is probably just kind of reaching out to the community, educating and letting them understand why this is so important, why conserving water is essential to our community.

We have a limited water supply, and I've lived here most of my life.

So I mean, I feel like a connection kind of with the city and with our communities.

So that's why I enjoy this job.

And this concludes the investigation.

Now, we witnessed firsthand that Cameron really does love his job, by the way.

Great job, Cameron.

His ship starts at 330 in the morning.

He does not mind.

Now, getting back to those fines, if you do get one, you do have the option of doing an online waterways education course Instead of paying that fine.

And that is a very real possibility, because I understand that neighbors can even report on people who have these violations.

We talk about.

We all have to do our part, right.

So, yes, you can go online.

We have that information on our Web site.

Now, these waterways investigators, they do take it very seriously.

They ask you to upload photos and talk a little bit about what the situation is, whether it's, you know, the water flowing off the property or maybe a sprinkler that's broken.

And then they go back the following week at the exact time that you put on that report.

And then they go ahead and make sure that the problem is fixed or they talk to the homeowner.

So, again, most of their day consist of going out and doing those investigations.

And I was thinking that same thing.

If water was running off my property, I don't know if I would know how to fix it.

That sprinkler systems are so neat that they help out.

They really do.

And as you saw there, they're very committed to their job.

And thank you, Maria, for helping make this show so great.