Los Angeles residents apparently have no patience for water-wasters during the current drought.
During the first six months of the year, the city’s MyLA311 system received 1,643 reports about water waste or people violating irrigation rules, more than double the number from the first half of last year, according to data released today by a nonprofit news organization.
In less than a month, residents in large portions of Southern California will be under unprecedented water restrictions due to a worsening drought that has severely limited water supplies.
The biggest change is the requirement from the Metropolitan Water District that local water suppliers in those areas, from Ventura County to northwestern L.A. County to parts of the Inland Empire, limit outdoor watering to once a week.
One day after approving a restriction that will limit outdoor watering to once a week for millions of Southern California residents and businesses, leaders of the region’s largest water wholesaler said Wednesday they needed to take unprecedented steps to respond to the record drought.
“The reality is, this drought has left us without the water supply we need to meet normal demands in these areas,” Adel Hagekhalil, general manager of the Los Angeles-based Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, said in a statement.
The South Bay’s largest water provider is limiting when and how often people can water their yards as Santa Clara County faces the effects of a deepening drought.
“People spent so much money on their landscape they want to maintain it. Especially in town here. There’s a lot of wealth in Palo Alto. And they don’t want to see their yards go dry,” said Steve Crosariol, who works in Palo Alto and lives in Cupertino.
The Water News Network is San Diego County’s source for water news and information.
