A decades-long megadrought is causing record water levels in reservoirs.
Unprecedented restrictions have been ordered for millions of Southern California residents as the region’s mega-drought persists and continues to intensify.
About 6 million customers in Los Angeles, San Bernardino and Ventura counties under the Metropolitan Water District will need to drastically reduce their outdoor water use. However, they are still encouraged to water their trees by hand, Metropolitan Chief Executive Officer Deven Upadhyay said during a press conference on Wednesday.
The water district requires its member agencies in State Water Project dependent areas to restrict outdoor watering to only one day a week, or the equivalent.
The goal is to reduce total water consumption by 35% in the face of water shortages, Upadhyay said. If the restrictions do not reduce consumption by 35%, next year they could follow even stricter rules, he added.
The water district will monitor daily water use and how much is used, as well as how residents and businesses are responding to these emergency restrictions, Upadhyay said.
After Sept. 1, the water company may need to put more limits on how much water people can use, including banning all outdoor water use, Metropolitan General Manager Adel Hagekhalil said, and He added that the company is aware that “it will create a challenge for people.” .”
“Conservation should be a way of life for all of us,” he said, describing the new restrictions as unprecedented. “This is a wake-up call for everyone.”
The Metropolitan Water District uses water from the Colorado River, as does the State Water Project, which gets its water from the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta.
The Colorado is now at the top of the list of most threatened rivers in the country due to megadrought.
Anyone who fails to comply with the water district’s new requirements will be fined $2,000 per acre-foot and other penalties for the water the facility is required to provide, Upadhyay said.
Matthew Fuhrman and Flor Tolentino of ABC News contributed to this report.
Reference-abcnews.go.com