Sweeping water restrictions begin in Southern California in ongoing drought
Sweeping restrictions on outdoor water use go into effect on Wednesday for more than 6 million residents in Southern California as officials work to conserve water during a severe drought.
Sweeping restrictions on outdoor water use go into effect on Wednesday for more than 6 million residents in Southern California as officials work to conserve water during a severe drought.
The conservation rules, among the strictest ever imposed in the state, were set by the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, one of the largest water distributors in the country.
Households are now forbidden from watering their lawns more than once a week in many jurisdictions. The goal is to slash water use by 35 percent as the state enters its third straight year of drought.
The rules come after California officials in March announced they were cutting State Water Project allocations from 15 percent to 5 percent of normal amid declining reservoir levels and reduced snowpack. California’s two largest reservoirs have already dropped to critically low levels, and the state this year experienced its driest January, February and March on record.
“The amount of water we have available to us right now is not going to be enough to carry us through the entire year unless we do something different,” MWD general manager Adel Hagekhalil said at a news conference in April. “This is a wake-up call.”
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