The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California declared a water emergency in parts of California. On Tuesday, the board of the Metropolitan Water District released a statement saying there is a water shortage emergency.
Beginning June 1, affected people will have to limit their watering of their outdoor lawns and gardens to one day a week.
The Metropolitan Water District has never issued restrictions like this before, according to a report by the Los Angeles Times.
This is an unprecedented crisis. Hagekhalil said in a press conference on Wednesday that they had never done anything like this before.
California is currently experiencing its most severe dry spell since 1895. The current dry spell has devastated farmers and the environment. The Colorado River, which supplies a quarter of Southern California's water, is at a record-low level.
The Metropolitan Water District brings water to 19 million people in parts of Los Angeles, Orange, San Diego, San Bernardino, and Ventura counties. Gloria Gray, the chair of the Metropolitan Water District Board of Directors, said that the new restrictions will affect 6 million people in Los Angeles, San Bernardino, and Ventura counties.
The board's new requirements state that affected towns must either limit outdoor watering to one day per week or find other ways to reduce water use. If they don't comply with the new restrictions, they will face fines.
The Metropolitan Water District's general manager says 70% to 30% of people use lawn watering. The cuts will result in a lower water demand. Hagekhalil said he was given the authority to issue a total ban on outdoor watering if they don't.
People in Los Angeles and the surrounding areas have to travel long distances to get their water. Rich Pauloo, a hydrogeologist and data scientist studying California's water through the Water Data Lab, said in a phone call that Los Angeles is a coastal desert with limited natural freshwater resources. He said that was the case.
The Colorado and Owens rivers are some of the major water sources for LA. The State Water Project brings water from Northern to Southern California through a network of canals and pipes that start in the Sierra Nevada Mountains.
When one supply is facing dry conditions, we can turn to another. The State Water Project supply to LA has dropped in recent months. The resources coming from the northern Sierras have been cut by two-thirds.
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