Water gets more precious in SoCal

Not too long ago I asked: "Are we so idiotic that we won't actually start conserving water until it starts gouging our wallets?" There I dissed L.A.'s voluntary water use reduction efforts -- put forward by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, who himself is a major water guzzler.

Now it looks like voluntary might turn to mandatory AND prices might go up. The latest in SoCal water news:

>> Two L.A. reservoirs have to be drained. Because of a weird chemical reaction that tainted the Silver Lake and Elysian reservoirs with the suspected carcinogen bromate, 600 million gallons of water must be dumped during this ongoing drought.

>> SoCal's water imports are going to get cut to save near-extinct fishies in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.

>> Mandatory water use restrictions may be coming early next year, because Villaraigosa's plea to voluntarily curb water use hasn't worked. Long Beach, in contrast, has done quite well.

Photo by Esther Perez via Flickr

Comments

[Kate]

This is why, when we buy, one of our upgrades will be the installation of cisterns so that we can collect run-off and use it later to water the garden, etc.

[Siel]

Cool -- Let me know how that system works out :)

[Ned Raggett]

Not having a lawn has been such a joy these last few years...yay apartment life!

[Kate]

Well, it'll be a while, considering we don't own yet, but I'll keep you posted when we get to that point!

[Steven Pelletier]

Wonder why the people of Los Angeles are not conserving water? Los Angelenos are not stupid. Each of us has witnessed freeway sprinklers missing the mark and hitting our windshields. Each of us sees the very green golf courses dotting our city. Seems to me that Mayor Villaraigosa's talking out of the side of his mouth about water conservation. City and private golf courses water the acres and acres of grass daily and we see this happening while Villaraigosa is calling for rationing of water. This is similar to calling for power rationing while downtown buildings, city offices and hospitals burn bright in empty workspaces night after night. Mayor Villaraigosa needs to get out and drive around our fine city and see what we see each and every day and every night. Conserve water? How about setting an example that we can all relate to. When the golf courses are brown we will have visual proof that the Mayor is serious. Until then, it will be water your driveway as usual in L.A.

[Siel]

After Villaraigosa got a buncha press 'bout showing up in an SUV at a press conference, he started taking public transit quite a bit :P Maybe all the press he's gotten 'bout not walking the talk on the water conservation issue will pressure him to do the same in that regard. Both the LAT and the LA Weekly seem to be keeping tabs on Villaraigosa's water bills, so we'll see how things develop --