The city has a shrewd plan to see that everyone complies with the new law to save water.

They want you to be a "water cop" so you can report your neighbor if you catch him rinsing off his driveway, allowing the hose to run while washing his car or running his sprinklers between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. Irrigation experts don't want people to water their yards during the day because too much of the water evaporates before it helps the plants. Sprinklers work better at night (or at least that's the theory.)

If you have a stopwatch handy, you can also report your neighbor if his sprinklers run for longer than 15 minutes. Or you could squeal if any of the sprinkler heads are defective and shoot a steady stream of water straight into the sky or if you see rivers running down the street from somebody who's obviously overwatering.

Think of the power you'll have.

It almost makes you want to drive around the neighborhood, looking for water hogs so you can put them on report.

What's the fun in limiting your police powers to only the families next door? Maybe the city can give us badges so we can feel like real police officers.

We wonder: How many residents will actually squeal on their neighbor for wasting water?

Unless you don't like the folks next door, chances are you won't be a tattle-tale.

Maybe the real purpose is to make everyone more water conscious. Why make somebody next door nervous about how you're using water?

After all, if we all do what we're supposed to do, nobody will have to be a water cop.