L.A. is conserving water at record levels, but it’s not enough as drought worsens
The Los Angeles Times reports on the massive city’s water conservation efforts: “In the past year, Los Angeles has reduced its water use by 20%, using more water to create more air, and has cut the amount of water used by about 5% a year.”
The Times goes on to quote one city official who said the drought is one of the worst for Los Angeles in 40 years.
A huge water conservation effort has helped keep Los Angeles from running dry, but it’s not enough to make up for the drought’s effects on water supplies here in Southern California, according to a City Hall official.
The drought has left Los Angeles with water reserves of about 2.5 years worth of flow on some reservoirs.
However, the LA Times article also reports that the city is still using an average of 5.8 percent less water than it did two years ago, even though its water consumption has increased by about 20% — which is the normal decline in the amount of water used by a city.
More from KQED:
The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power has been cutting back on water use by about a fifth in the wake of the city’s devastating drought.
A city department official said Thursday that the department has reduced water use by 20 percent this year, using less to create more air — a process that consumes a lot of water.
But water usage by the city has increased by about 20 percent, the standard decline.
In fact, the city’s water department used 5.8 percent less water in 2013 than it did in 2012.
Still, the water department is running a tight ship, using an average of 20.5 percent less water than it did two years ago.
“There’s just a lot of new rules and new restrictions we have to get across the finish line on,” said Gary Monahan, assistant director of resource management. “That’s just the reality of it.”
The city has used about 300 million gallons of water to generate 60 million kilowatt hours of electricity a year, but it is cutting
