New Orleans is Leaking

Water leaking faster than city is using it, at the New Orleans Times-Picayune.

[New Orleans Sewage and Water Board spokesman] Jackson also said S&WB employees cannot enter private property without the owner's permission to fix a leak, even if water has flowed onto public ground. And he said some problems that may appear to be water board issues, such as sinkholes, may actually be the responsibility of the city streets or public works departments; those are referred to City Hall.

How to get around this? Less than half of New Orleans' residents have returned, or something like that. That's a lot of empty houses that might need traipsing across to fix a leak.