Before, the landfill had to pay for an aerial survey each year to make sure all the dirt covering the trash was safe and secure. But, those flights could cost up to $20,000 a pop, and it could take a while to compile the data.

"And since it's almost no cost to fly once it's been purchased it's very simple for us to come out and very inexpensively for us to collect that data," said Stephen O'Meara, Ada County chief information officer.

The whole process can be done overnight with a drone. Armed with a camera to take pictures or video, it can survey the area driven by its pilot. The footage is then placed in a system for analysis.