L.A. mayor moves to limit water use and punish violators

Calling the ongoing three-year drought a crisis, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa today called for severe  water-use restrictions and a tiered rate system that would reward customers who conserve and punish those who don’t with higher bills.

Lawn watering would be restricted to two days a week, Mondays and Thursdays, and could be cut to one day a week by summer if the drought continues, Villaraigosa said. The mayor made his announcement on a rainy winter day, but L.A.'s current wet weather is not expected to ease the drought. Restrictions   could be imposed as early as March but would have to be approved by the City Council and commissioners at the city's Department of Water and Power.

The increased conservation measures are proposed because the Metropolitan Water District, a major wholesale water supplier to Los Angeles and the rest of Southern California, has warned that the worsening drought may force it to cut water deliveries by 15% to 25%.

“We’re headed into a crisis that we have not seen in decades," Villaraigosa said at a morning news conference in City Hall.

How much would water abuse cost residents?

The mayor urged the DWP to approve “shortage-year" rates, a tiered pricing system that encourages customers to conserve by charging more for water as usage increases. Customers who meet the city’s conservation targets would not see their bills increase -- and could even pay less -- the mayor said.

It will be up to the DWP’s board to set those conservation targets, and the price increases embedded in the proposed shortage-year rates, when it meets later this month. Customers could be asked to cut their water consumption by an additional 8% to 15%, or face steeper water rates if they do not.

Statewide, reservoir levels are at their lowest levels since the 1976-79 drought. The Eastern Sierra snowpack, a major source of water for the city, is also 71% of normal. Water that Southern California receives from the Colorado River Aqueduct and State Water Project also have fallen sharply, all of which is “grim news" to water users in Los Angeles, said DWP General Manager H. David Nahai.

-- Phil Willon

Photo: Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa speaks at a news conference last September at Jim Gilliam Park in Los Angeles. Credit: Los Angeles Times.

Comments

[Just facts]

If everyone is only allowed to water on Mondays and Thursdays, won't that just mean a huge spike and possible water shortages those days in case of a fire?

What about people who have gardeners, are the supposed to just work 2 days a week? Many rely on them to manually water and adjust sprinklers, not just "rich" people but older people who can't do the work themselves.

Is this based on reducing water rates used currently, or if not, how else to determine what's reasonable, since one house may have a yard which currently uses more water because of green lawns and flower beds, and pool, while their neighbor with same size house may have a xeriscape and no pool, and be conserving already? Is the second house going to be required to cut more relative to their own earlier use, or some average?

[anais larae]

What about our parks. what will happen to the recreational turf areas inwhich i play many city sanctioned sports on, soccer softball. I am i suppose to grow fat with in activity,,,,,,,,,,I don't want our parks to become be brown sores..

Boo HOO

[bike arch]

The mayor is way off on this one....our parks will go down in flames, especially the ones in the valley. How are the parks department suppose to maintain healthy fields for active sports play.

Why dosent the mayor consult landscape architects, I have heard they no a thing or two about these issues.

[Pmg]

Funny when tony villar has been caught wasting water

[Loren]

And restrictions on building more housing so that more water-consuming people will live in this desert? None? I thought so. Our leaders are insane and should be put away.

[America's Last Stand]

What a surprise yet another mandate by a liberal democrat to take away yet more freedom from the citizens. Punish the people into submission. Punitive legislation.

Do not encourage or give us citizens the choice, just punish us. The Liberal Democrat way. People Rebublic of California + East Berlin.

Punish us into using less gas, water, electricity, etc. instead of doing YOUR JOB and overhaul the infastructure of the state and the city. Hey TONY ever see the millions of gallons of water running through the LA river and out into the ocean everytime it rains?

I wish Villarigosa and the inept City Council was as hard on Illegal Immigrants and the gangs here in LA as they are on law abiding American Citizens.

[Shawn]

It strikes me that a sensible restriction would be some limited volume of water per week (easily enforced by checking meters) or a limited number of times per week (say, twice) that each resident can water (less easily enforced, but still enforceable through drive-bys and checklists - like parking enforcement using chalk).

Most gardeners work every day but only once or twice per week for any individual customer, so that would not restrict their ability to earn their livelihood.

Now if we could only do something about enforcing the gas-powered blower ban...?

[Ruby Jackson]

I will support this only when Mayor Viva La Raza and the city council being denying building new condos and multi-use development units. Single family homes and duplexes are being razed for multi-unit complexes, putting a huge demand on supply of natural resources. Enough is enough. Let's restrict growth if we don't have the resources to support it.

[independent skeptic]

Wow. The mayor spending time on local issues? Maybe today was one of the 2 days per week that Mayor Villaraigossa works on city issues. I just thought he'd be on his Blackberry texting his misstresses.

Silly me.

[Al]

Okay L.A. Times, instead of getting a lot of people upset. Why not explain what the new tiered rates are or refer the reader to a website for addtional information. Water rates may be different depending on the area.

[pipspeak]

I approve of a tiered billing system. Forcing users to cut water consumption with threats is not gonna work. Encouraging them by charging realistic rates (= higher rates) will work. Parks have their own issues... this debate is about residential use, which on average is twice as high in the US as comparable parts of Europe. IMO it's high time Americans learn to use water more sensibly the same way as they are now learning to use credit more sensibly. Water, like oil and cheap credit, are not infinite resources.

[Realties Last Stand]

Oh boy, who riled up the guy hiding in his cabin, waiting for THE END? Get a grip and quit with the commie liberal paranoia. What would you propose? California aiming missiles at the sky and demanding that, "Mr. Environment, stop this drought!. Overhaul the infrastructure? Yeah and who do you think will start crying about the taxes needed for that? Guess what? Everyone has had the "choice" to conserve, but where did that get us? SUV's much? Illegal immigrants? Tell that to the "natives". Where are your ancestors from? Aren't you missing Rush Limbaugh or an old John Wayne movie? Go have a nap.

[h]

The entire city wastes water every single day. Personally, they should outlaw all grass in the city and go to indigenous plants only. If it needs water to grow, then it shouldn't be here.

The weather here is naturally temperate, but doesn't get a lot of water, so anything and everything that needs water is an example of the sheer ignorance and wastefulness of humanity.

[steve rodriguez]

Mayor Villa why are you afraid to debate?

[SanFrann]

FINALLY Southern Californians must conserve water. We in the Bay Area have had to do so that SoCal could water their sidewalks for years. Welcome to our world!

[P J Evans]

This should cut the number of overwatered lawns, of which there are far too many.

Green lawns in a near-desert are bad ideas anyway - plant native shrubs and wildflowers instead, where you can.

[just use common sense]

I is unbelievable to see how naive people judging by the comments posted. None of these people actually understand where and how water gets to LA. There is NO water in LA. Its not our right to hose down a sidewalk, or water a lawn so much that green algae grows in the gutter. Insanity.

People need to save water. Not come up with a bunch of selfish self rationalizing rants why they don't need to. Or are these the same people that bought bad mortages?

I'm no smart academic, but the stupidity and naivity of others is shocking to me.

[Sherman Tank]

He's creating a fire hazard and his solution, as usual, is too little too late. He doesn't think ANYTHING out. I can hardly wait for this guy's term to end; L.A. LISTEN UP: DON'T REELECT THIS MAYOR, just look at his non-track record. His claim to fame is eminent domain. Do we really need this guy?

[Keith]

The people whining about conservation need to stop acting like children. Most of LA water comes from northern California. We've had to conserve water in central California for decades. The San Francisco area may need to cut water use far more than LA. Farmers around here may start their pumps so their trees don't die before the snowmelt, further depleting our water table. Farms along I-5 may go fallow this year because there isn't enough water. You can live with a rock garden, but we'll go hungry without water. We're faced with some stark choices these days that require everyone to conserve and act like responsible adults.

[RT]

Makes me glad I live in central OC where our water distict is a national model for recycling water for non-drinking uses and promoting water conservation. LA needs to recyle more of its water so that the cuts on the drinking water side won't be so dramatic.

[Realties Last Stand]

LA won't do anything unless it's mandated. I welcome rationing, tiered pricing, whatever. We switched to drip irrigation and native drought tolerant plants YEARS ago. I sweep and rake by hand. You know what everybody else on my street does? They hose off their driveways, they have ridiculous lawns/plants with sprinklers that run day & night, even during rain, they don't understand and even when you tell them they don't care. Quit blaming the politicians. Learn how to conserve and live like a responsible human being and it won't affect you. You sound like a bunch of babies. Could we, for once, not live up to the stereotype of LA as a bunch of immature and ignorant narcissists?

[Fred]

Has everyone gone stupid? Who cares about your freaking gardens when you don't have any water to drink or bathe. I go jogging in Toluca Lake and see massive water waste there. People over water their lawns to the point where it spills over into the street. It's shameful how little these people care. We're running out of water! Wake up morons.

[Joe]

Are you people just unreasonable? Have any of you actually read into what is going on? Parks are exempt, if you tried reading, or researching, you may have discovered this.

And for all you morons wanting to keep your "gardeners", try telling them not to "garden" your front sidewalk. This is for scofflaws who carelessly waste our resources. Right on mayor.

[Craig in Oz]

I live in South Australia where we have had severe water restrictions for years. All sprinklers are banned and we can only hand water with a hose for 3 hours three times per week. Most have let their lawns die and our once beautiful parks are now brown and ugly. Our kids have never known the fun of running through the sprinkler on a hot day and "slip and slides" are against the law! We even have "water police" who issue huge fines. But in a drought we need to have water for survival. It does take some getting used to and I have given up on being angry. It is difficult to watch your green lawns and exotic gardens die but sometimes we need to see beauty in our natural environment which may not be green and lush.

[Ruby Jackson]

It's not true that there is NO water in LA. The Los Angeles River is a naturally occurring, year-round river. The amount of water that is flushed out through the river during a typical rain storm (like the one we're having now) could provide enough water to flush toilets for a year. Check out the facts at the websites for FoLAR or The River Project. The Mayor needs to act smarter.