SACRAMENTO-

The misinformation out there about how Sacramentans are supposed to be using water in the early stages of this drought is flowing and that means the water police are rolling, looking for a chance to educate and catch violators.

“Yeah, somebody called this in,” city water monitor Ron Carpenter said Wednesday as he talk to the on-site manager at River Cove apartments.

He’s following up on one of the 305 water waste reports the city’s department of utilities has fielded this month.

In all of January 2013 there were just 14 calls.

Wednesday was Sacramento’s first full day under stage-two water use restrictions – requiring a 20 to 30 percent cut in usage.

Managers at River Cove didn’t realize that stage one, which took effect in November, only allowed for outdoor watering once a week.

“I’m going to call our landscaping supervisor as soon as we finish here and tell them to reset the clocks and reset the days and let him know that we have to conserve water,” Marge Kelly said.

“We don’t intend to hand out a lot of very expensive notices or violations, but it’s there for the teeth to help us control the situation,” Carpenter said.

River Cove apartments just got a warning, but with more than 30 tickets written so far this month 2014’s violations are on-pace to surpass those handed out during each of the last two years.

Fine can range from $50 to $1,000 for repeat offenders.