The drought in the tri-state is getting worse, with parts of Long Island under a water emergency because of the lack of rain and low water reserves — like many other parts of the region.
A handful of Suffolk County towns were asked, among other things, to pull back on watering their lawns. But how many are actually doing it?
Turns out — not a lot. That's why there's a team now out on patrol to stop homeowners and businesses from wasting water during this uncommonly dry summer.
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Suffolk Water Authority Field Manager Louis Coppola was on the lookout for one thing as he drove through Southampton in the dark this week: Lawn sprinklers humming between midnight and 7 a.m.
"Sometimes you can hear them too when you drive slow," he told NBC New York, as he searched for the violators.
Coppola found a business disobeying the water restrictions, as 13 sprinklers were on at once. That location was was among several in Southampton running sprinklers in the early morning hours Friday.
"They’re pumping a lot of water right now, draining our system," Coppola said, something he and his team are trying to stop.
Coppola will stop and snap a picture, which will be used as they ask the business to run its sprinklers later in the day instead. It’s a request, not an order, one this business apparently ignored earlier this month.
"We’re really trying to keep a tight leash on everybody but it’s not easy," Coppola said.
His frustration comes just weeks after a stage one water emergency was declared in four East End towns. The Water Authority’s chairman said heavy lawn sprinkler use is draining a million-gallon tank every morning, leaving firefighters at risk of not having enough water if needed.
"We don’t want to tell people not to run the water, but just change the time so it’s less stress on our system," Coppola said.
But despite robocalls and other alerts, the water authority says sprinkler use is basically unchanged.
Residents are still doing all they can to protect landscaping investments during the drought.
"They want beautiful, lush, green lawns. You give up watering and people will have dead grass, and they don’t want that," said TKTK
Despite the frustrations, water authority officials say there are no plans to either mandate water restrictions or become more aggressive in efforts to get people to change their lawn watering habits. Some residents said it's just common sense to reduce water usage during a drought, while others criticized those who haven't made adjustments yet.
"People have to be responsible but sometimes New Yorkers live in a bubble," said one resident.
The best hope the water authority says is for the skies to finally bring rain, and convince people to turn off their sprinklers.
