Aurora Water doesn’t much care which two days in a week you water your lawn, amid this historic drought. But if your irrigation system starts up on a third day in the same week, the water world equivalent of a Flock camera is watching. The “smart” meters on every Aurora property automatically sense a spike in water use, and alert Aurora Water to confirm the violation and send out a warning or fine. With updates at 15-minute intervals, the meters also detect irrigation watering during hot daytime hours when that’s against the rules. The water surveillance, which Aurora Water officials acknowledge many of their customers might not realize exists, is one key to Colorado’s third-largest city so far achieving its water-saving goals in a year with record-low snowpack and abysmal streamflows into mountain reservoirs. 

Other water conservation news:

• Yale Climate Connections: Blog: Farmers learn how to grow crops with dramatically less water