Results tagged “drought”

Los Angeles City Councilman Greig smith has brought up some legitimate points in the recent drought-related debates, but his most recent announcement about his scofflaw watering may be pushing it. Yesterday at a committee meeting, the Northwest Valley representative said he was challenging the current water laws by watering his lawn three times a week for 8 minutes. "And my grass is greener than it's ever been, and I bet I'm using less water," he said.

Last June, Governor Schwarzenegger sought federal disaster aid as California entered its third drought summer in three years. 43% of the state is listed in a severe drought, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor's results last week. Still, the Obama Administration denied Schwarzenegger's request, which would have given money for food banks, unemployment and other services in Fresno County, according to the Associated Press. Now Schwarzenegger is asking Obama to reconsider his petition. The last time federal money was given to California for a drought was in 1977.

Water use by Los Angeles residents and businesses were down by 11% in June when compared to June 2008 making it the lowest demand in 32 years, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power announced today. June 1st of this year marked the beginning of a new water conservation law aimed mainly at sprinkler usage, limiting it to certain hours on Mondays and Thursdays, and a new "shortage year" rate structure.

Under the new drought rules banning sprinkler use--save for early mornings and nights on Mondays and Thursdays--city parks, especially those in the sweltering Valley, are turning brown. Now they want an exemption from the strict water rules so the public doesn't have to picnic and play soccer on brown fields. They claims they've reduced water consumption by 40% over the past two years and the LADWP Board of Commissioners seem to agree larger than normal properties such as parks, colleges and cemeteries deserve a break from the rule if they can show a 20% reduction in water. The City Council will consider that measure today in a meeting.

If they can send men to the moon, then they can surely help bitch-thirsy Los Angeles save some water in drought times and beyond. A three-year agreement between the Jet Propulsion Lab in Pasadena and the Los Angeles Department of Power & Water will bring automatic sensors to various projects. One example, explains the Pasadena Star News: "DWP maintains a network of sprinklers to keep the dust under control when winds pick up. To help reduce dust, the DWP and its team of contractors are installing a computer-controlled network of sprinklers currently covering more than 14 square miles of the lake bed. But the system consumes significant amounts of water." Other sensor projects include snow pack monitoring in the Sierras and solar power on roofs within the city.

A city proposal could do just that. Smart Sprinklers, as explained by the Catalina Island Conservancy's Isla Earth podcast, works like this: "a weather-based controller starts talking to your local weather station. It gets data about things like rainfall, air temperature, and wind speed. It then uses those data to figure out how much water your plants will need and how much will be lost to evaporation. It turns on the sprinklers to deliver just the right amount."

NPR's Ben Bergman did a ride along with one of the fifteen Department of Water and Power's Water Cops, who patrol and respond to complaints about water wasting. It's not like riding along with a police officer, he rode with a city employee in a Toyota Prius, whose job is about trying to educate before writing citations as high as $600.

Now in its third drought year, Southern California could be facing another if a developing El Nino off the coast of South America comes August with not much force. "El Nino is El Wimpo," said Bill Patzert, climatologist for the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory in La Canada Flintridge to the Daily News. "He's late. He's stunted. He's definitely not the great wet hope." For the last year, downtown LA has received 9.08 inches of rain, six inches below normal. Not good, but better than the 3.21 inches it saw the year previous. Because of that many cities have enacted water rationing ordinances. And this year could be no different as some climatologists are predicting another dry winter.

"What we've seen has been totally unfair toward landscapers," tells Larry Walsh, assistant executive director of the California State Landscaping Contractors Association, to the Daily News. "We think the idea of two-day limits [Mondays and Thursdays] is wrong. It would be much better to have a water budgeting system, where people are allowed a certain amount of water at a base rate and they decide how to reach it... We are asking that there be an exemption for landscapers and for people living in fire areas. When you have professional landscapers, you use less water. With a two-day limit, people tend to over-water their plants." The LA Department of Water, that is in charge of the program, says the program is under constant review and will make changes when necessary. For now (and maybe for a long time), landscapers will have to adjust to from their usual ways.

Following suit with the LA Department of Water (LADWP), a city agency, the LA County Board of Supervisors declared a water emergency today for three the county areas. Residents served by the Department of Public Works (LADPW) will have to meet a lower 15% tier usage rate or face higher fees, a similar system to the city of Los Angeles. Also, the Board approved to charge customers for "water service availability" in Kagel Canyon, Malibu, Val Verde, Acton and the Antelope Valley.

One day after new lawn watering regulations went into effect, the LA Department of Water and Power announced a program to encourage residents to replace their traditional bitch thirsty green grass lawns with ones filled with drought tolerant plants. You're not going to make loads of money, but it's a good step for the department to take, nonetheless. From their news release:

For the second time today, a North American Black Bear entered an area residential neighborhood. This time one was found in a La Verne, probably in search of water and food, before officials tranquilized and transported it to an undisclosed location in the San Gabriel Mountains. Earlier today, a 300-pound bear was found and captured in a Camarillo apartment complex.

“I think we’re going to have to make some lifestyle changes...particularly how we use water outside,” said Bob Yamada, water resources manager for the San Diego County Water Authority before yesterday's decision by the Metropolitan Water District (MWD) to cut water supplies by 10% to agencies such as San Diego, Long Beach and Los Angeles.

A proposed LADWP rate hike on customers who do not conserve water was unanimously rejected by the LA City Council today. If passed, the proposal would have gone in effect this summer forcing users to reduce usage to under a certain amount (on average, 15% less) or have significantly higher rates. The council's consensus was that they had not enough time to fully study the motion. "City water department officials say that 85% of single-family homeowners and 94% of low-income residents would not see an increase in their water rate or would even pay less under the proposed ordinance," reported the LA Times.

Say goodbye to that bonus hour you picked up back in the fall--overnight tonight we've got to set our clocks ahead an hour for Daylight Savings Time. You can also use this as an opportunity to do a six-month check-up around your place to be sure your smoke alarms are properly powered, and that you've got fresh water for the household (and your pets) in case of an emergency.

According to the state's Department of Water Resources, "the mountain snowpack that feeds the state's reservoirs has reached 80% of normal for the date [.doc]," finds the LA Times. "Precipitation in the northern and southern Sierra has climbed above 90% of average and another storm is on the way." This comes after Friday when Governor Schwarzenegger declared a state of emergency regarding the drought.

Or on the city for using sprinklers when it's raining? On Friday, Schwarzengger declared a state emergency warning that mandatory rationing could be coming soon.

If today's record breaking unemployment rate was not bad enough, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's office announced that he will be declaring a state of emergency over the water drought later this afternoon. Last June, he declared a statewide drought but did not call it an emergency until today.

California is still expected to have its worst drought in history, despite the rain we are seeing over this weekend. As always, DWP and LAist, remind you to turn off your sprinklers during this rainy time, as well as continue to conserve water as much as possible. If you want to learn more about California’s water conditions, please drop by Santa Monica today at 1pm where State Senator Fran Pavey is hosting a conference about Improving Water Conservation and Management in Southern California: Successes and Opportunities

The Department of Water and Power knows there are plenty of people using sprinklers while it's raining. "Under the city's Water Conservation Ordinance, it is illegal to water outdoors when it's raining," they said in an e-mail out to press. "Violators are subject to citation and fines under the municipal code." This is especially important this year due to drought conditions and a 50% less snow pack than usual. If you want to tattle on a water waster, call 1-800-DIAL DWP (1-800-342-5397) 24 hours a day or send an e-mail to the water conservation team at waterconservationteam@ladwp.com.

Los Angeles is in a drought. Without more rainfall, this city will be starting rationing very soon. New data was released today about our water shortage:

It was brought up earlier this year and once again this week. If rain and snowpack levels stay down, water sent to regions in California will be considerably less--as little as 15% of allocations--than usual. "Last spring was the driest since 1921 in the northern Sierra," the LA Times said as well as noting that "reservoirs are starting the rainy season at their lowest levels since 1977." In June, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger declared a statewide water drought.

Light rain will continue through the morning. Bright side: we need rain. LA is headed into 2009 facing the most severe drought conditions in 15 years, according to the Metropolitan Water District:

Expecting another dry winter, state water officials warned Thursday they can deliver just 15 percent of what local water agencies have requested for 2009, raising the possibility of water rationing in the Los Angeles area.

Continue reading "Good Morning Rainy LA"

A report released last week by the U.S. Climate Prediction Center said that Southern California's drought will continue or intensify through at least November.

The forecast for California for the coming months is drought--no surprises here. In fact, it's going to be the "the fourth driest year in the last 114 years," according to KNBC.com, and we're expected to have "below-average rainfall for the third year in a row." So the Department of Water Resources is trying to get resourceful by setting up a program for growers and cities in the Southern part of the state to purchase water from farmers and water agencies located to the North, mostly in the Sacramento Valley area.

The city's Energy and the Environment Committee met this morning and passed a water waste crackdown plan, making way for a full city council approval, which will likely occur in September. "The 'drought busters' plan crafted by the Department of Water and Power seeks to punish residents who water their lawns between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m., car owners who wash their cars without 'shut-off devices' on their hoses and restaurants that serve water without being asked," reports David Zahniser at the LA Times.

Today, Governor Schwarzenegger declared a statewide water drought and ordered immediate action to address the issue. Via the Sacramento Bee:

Photo by Tha_Sco via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr

Yesterday at a press conference with Mexico City Mayor Marcelo Ebrard regarding the renewal of a Sister City relationship, Mayor Villaraigosa went off topic, but with good reason: water woes could be ahead, according to the Daily News. With the fires, extreme water drought and light snowpack this year, water is tight. Earlier this summer, the mayor made a call for the public to voluntarily reduce water use, hoping for a 10% decrease (even...

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