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GREENSBORO — Jeff Denny cruises slowly along a suburban street, looking for lawbreakers.

Suddenly, he spots evidence of something amiss and pulls his big Chevy truck to the side.

"Right here," he says. "You can see it on the driveway."

Water.

Busted.

Wednesday marked the first day that city employees began actively enforcing Greensboro's new mandatory water restrictions, which took effect Monday.

That meant no sprinklers, and no exceptions. Enforcers don't even need to catch someone red-handed with a sprinkler running — evidence that they had been on earlier, running through the night, is enough.

Armed with a clipboard and a large cup of McDonald's coffee, Denny made his way through the city's greenest neighborhoods.

His eyes scanned the streets for the telltale signs of sprinklers that had been in use: half-moons of wet pavement, mulch of varying colors.

Finding violators wasn't hard. In less than four hours of crisscrossing residential streets, Denny racked up more than 50 citations.

"I know the neighborhoods," he said. "I know where they would be watering."

The difference in watered and unwatered lawns can be startling. From above, the suburbs must look like a giant checkerboard, with lush green squares alternating with yellowish-brown yards.

At times, Denny found violations as fast as he could write them down.

"It's just sad," he said. "A lot of folks, I'm sure, are oblivious. A lot of folks, I'm sure, don't care."

But others do.

By Wednesday afternoon, residents had informed the city of well more than 100 properties they suspected of illegally irrigating this week, said Kristine Williams of the city's water resources department.

Some were quite enthusiastic.

"We had somebody fax us a list of all their neighbors who were irrigating," she said.

Tips aren't the only tool the city is using to pinpoint the locations of illicit sprinklers.

The day before Denny began his sweep, Kenny Treadway sat at a desk in the water resources headquarters on South Elm-Eugene Street, looking at maps.

Treadway was putting together a map aimed at highlighting areas where violations might be likely, based on the location of irrigation meters.

That, along with maps that show areas of heavy use, helps take the guesswork out of enforcement, city officials say.

"We know where there's a lot of irrigation going on," Williams said.

It's too early to judge the impact of the mandatory restrictions, but demand has dropped in recent days, she said.

Water use dropped from 46.2 million gallons last Tuesday to 40.5 million two days ago , she said.

That's still too high, however. Water officials say the demand needs to drop to the mid-30s to stem the bleeding.

Because the voluntary restrictions didn't work, Denny and others will continue to hit the streets.

He doesn't mind the work. In fact, he's happy to help.

"If everyone would do their part, we would ... be in better shape," he said. "It's the law. Technically, they're lawbreakers."

Contact Jason Hardin at 373-7021 or at jhardin@news-record.com