With the city of San Diego poised to adopt tough water restrictions next month, it would seem many residents are already well aware of the upcoming changes.
So much, in fact, many San Diegans are already reporting water wasters among their neighbors and nearby businesses.
The city's Public Utilities department is reporting a big increase in complaints, and so is the water conservation group San Diego Coastkeeper.
“I would say those complaints have probably risen three or four times than what we normally see,” said Matt O’Malley, the organization's president.
He said he’s been flooded with emails including photographs of the offenders.
“We may not all see this in our daily lives, but when you start seeing all of these pictures come in, you realize how big of a problem it really is," he said.
NBC 7 has received similar emails, and the NBC 7 Facebook page has been seeing many posts complaining about excessive water use.
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Some residents are using an app called Vizsafe to post videos and "drought shame" water wasters.
So what should you do if you see an offender? O’Malley suggests a face to face conversation. If that fails, he says call the local municipalities.
Most cities in San Diego County have adopted water restriction rules, but not all of them are the same. To find out the restrictions in your neighborhood check ACWA.com and click on the water information tab to find your local water agency.
The issue of whether to increase San Diego's drought level to a "Drought Alert" will soon go before the ctiy council.
If they vote to move to Level 2, restrictions that are now voluntary would become mandatory in an effort to cut water usage 20 percent.
