The debilitating drought in California has caused some residents to seek water anywhere they can - that includes taking it straight from fire hydrants.
Residents attach their hoses directly to the hydrants to fill up tanks in the middle of the night, according to ABC News. One water raider didn't even bother to hide the evidence of his crime.
"There was a hydrant that had a hose on it and whoever was there left the hose," Lemoore Public Works Director Dave Wlaschin told ABC affiliate KFSN-TV in Fresno.
Other thieves have filled up tanks to sell to various water-deprived communities.
"We're concerned about it, we've been on an active alert for those types of things, with groundwater supplies what they are and surface water supplies an even greater problem," Wlaschin said.
California has experienced three straight years of drought that some scientists predict may become a "megadrought" lasting up to 35 years. The dryness could rival other major 20th century droughts including the 1930s Dust Bowl and the 1950s droughts, according to Cornell University professor Toby Ault, who performed a joint study with the University of Arizona.
"I think we'd really have to change the way we think about water and the way that we can use water because right now we're on a path that would be unsustainable if we had a drought of 35 years," Ault said.
The state has seen its "worst consecutive three years for precipitation in 119 years," research meteorologist Martin Hoerling with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration told USA Today.
The entire state of California is considered to be in a drought as of Aug. 28, according to U.S. Drought Monitor. Governor Jerry Brown declared a statewide drought emergency this year, due to dryness that has caused dangerous wildfires and depleted agriculture resources.
Water conservation regulations have been put in place. Residents can no longer hose down their driveways or sidewalks, nor can they water their lawns. Wells have reportedly dried up in central California, according to USA Today.
Other incidents of water-stealing include thieves swiping thousands of gallons of water from a North San Juan fire department and an illegal marijuana growing operation siphoning off water from streams that supplied an American Indian tribe, according to ABC News.
