The Metropolitan Water District (MWD) and the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power have both issued highly-needed actions to reduce outdoor water use. However — no surprise — the guidelines are contradictory and confusing. MWD’s unprecedented declaration of a water shortage emergency restricts outdoor watering to just one day a week for approximately six million people in parts of Los Angeles, Ventura and San Bernardino counties.
According to the Los Angeles Times, the new restrictions will take effect June 1 and apply to areas that depend on water from the drought-ravaged State Water Project.
Meanwhile, last week, LADWP announced two-day-a-week watering restrictions, with an eight-minute limit, also effective on June 1. Martin Adams, LADWP general manager and chief engineer, noted that people who don’t comply with the new rules will receive a warning, followed by escalating fines for each subsequent violation.
The LADWP guidelines still need to be approved by the Los Angeles City Council.
The Los Angeles Times reported that, “Under the LADWP rules, residents will be assigned two watering days a week based on their addresses — Monday and Friday for odd addresses and Thursday and Sunday for even ones — with watering capped at only eight minutes, or 15 minutes for sprinklers with water-conserving nozzles. No watering will be allowed between 9:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. regardless of the watering days."
We told you it was confusing.
Learn more about the MWD water restrictions here.
And here.
LADWP Press Release may be found here.