No Fooling: Reserves 30% Below Last Year

Northern California water supply reservoirs have been rapidly depleted this year to meet California’s demand for water, due to the effects of record drought. In fact, the volume of water stored in these critical supply reservoirs is, collectively, 2.6 million-acre-feet (30 percent) less today then at this time last year. Despite this year’s average snow pack in the Sierra Mountains, the California Department of Water Resources has recently announced that water deliveries to the Bay Area, the Central Valley and to southern California "will be far below normal this year," due to a recent Federal court ruling which has significantly restricted pumping in the Sacramento/San Joaquin Delta.
"What this means is that we’ve essentially moved into a world where even in NORMAL years, we don’t have enough water," said Kevin L. Wattier, General Manager of the Long Beach Water Department. "Southern California is currently positioning itself for catosptrophic failure in the event of a protracted drought."
Earlier this month, during a joint Senate Committee hearing held in Sacramento, Roger Patterson, Assistant General Manager with the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California (MWD), read a prepared statement into the record, stating that his agency "is rapidly depleting its existing water supply reserves with no relief in sight." The MWD wholesales imported water supplies to communities throughout southern California, who are dependent on these imported supplies. Fifty percent of Long Beach’s water supply is purchased from the MWD.
Just last week, the Long Beach Board of Water Commissioner renewed their call for immediate, extraordinary conservation. "We need to engineer a permanent lifestyle change in the way we all see and use our water, so that inefficient and wasteful uses are no longer tolerated by anyone," stated Bill Townsend, the Commission’s President. "The only way a successful effort is going to be sustained, is if we have all of Southern California on board."
Since June of last year, the Long Beach Board of Water Commissioners has implemented extraordinary conservation measures, including enforcement of new citywide restrictions on certain outdoor uses of water. These efforts have achieved an additional 8 percent reduction in water use citywide through February of this year.
The Long Beach Water Department is an urban, southern California retail water supply agency and the standard in water conservation and environmental stewardship.

Meet Dog, the Water Cop...like a freight train

The Long Beach Water Department, joined by marketing partners LBPost.com; The Surfrider Foundation; JustinRudd.com and Professor Alan Jacobs of California State University Long Beach’s Film & Electronic Arts Department, is inviting the world to submit 30-second videos on the need to Stop Wasting Water. One video will be selected by the Long Beach Water Department, and its marketing partners, as the Best Overall Video and used as one of the Department's key public service announcements to run locally, on 14 different cable television networks this summer.
In September of last year, the Long Beach Board of Water Commissioners made an official Declaration of Imminent Water Supply Shortage triggering new, citywide prohibitions on certain uses of water, particularly outdoor water use. Approximately sixty percent of all the water used in Los Angeles County is used outdoors, primarily on non-native landscapes. The Board’s September 2007 Declaration was a direct result of record drought, rapid depletion of in-State water supply reserves, and a Federal court ruling to mitigate environmental impacts in California’s Bay Delta, which is a key imported water supply source for southern California.
To be considered, videos should be original, no longer than 30-seconds and use the phrase, "Stop Wasting Water," at least once. All videos will be judged on their potential to affect a permanent lifestyle change in the way people think about and use their water, so that inefficient and wasteful uses are no longer tolerated. The Best Overall Video will be announced on Friday, May 2, 2008.
To have your video considered, upload it HERE, or at www.youtube.com/group/waterwaster.

Water Supplies Will Be Far Below Normal This Year

Today, the Long Beach Board of Water Commissioners have renewed their call for immediate, extraordinary conservation measures after the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) announced that despite a normal snow pack, the water supply outlook for southern California remains poor.
The 2008 winter snow survey conducted today by the DWR is indicating that the water content of the Sierra snow pack is near normal, but State Water Project deliveries continue to remain at near record lows due to last year’s federal court ruling that significantly restricts Delta pumping from December through June, to protect an endangered fish. "The snow pack is back to normal, but a broken Delta means water deliveries to millions of Californians will be far below normal this year," said DWR Director Lester Snow.
"Once again, we call on the Metropolitan Water District and the southern California water supply community to join Long Beach and take a more aggressive, long-term, public stance on the need to immediately conserve water," stated Bill Townsend, President of the Long Beach Board of Water Commissioners. "Implementation of strict prohibitions on certain outdoor water uses, bolstered with aggressive public communications, is the future for southern California. We're asking our colleagues to embrace this future, today. We, collectively, need to engineer a permanent lifestyle change in the way we all see and use our water, so that inefficient and wasteful uses are no longer tolerated by anyone. The only way a successful effort is going to be sustained, is if we have all of Southern California on board."
Currently, the State Water Project is projected to deliver only 35 percent of requested amounts this year to cities, farmers and businesses in the Bay Area, Central Valley and Southern California. Last year, State Water Project deliveries were around 60 percent. "We have twice the snow pack and only half the water supply as we did at this time last year, stated Kevin L. Wattier, General Manager of the Long Beach Water Department. "This demonstrates the real implications of last year’s federal Delta Smelt ruling."
Earlier this month, during a joint Senate Committee hearing held in Sacramento, Roger Patterson, Assistant General Manager with the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California (MWD), read a prepared statement into the record, stating that "despite a healthy snow pack and a series of wet storms, deliveries from the State Water Project in 2008 are dramatically curtailed. Metropolitan is rapidly depleting its existing water supply reserves with no relief in sight." The MWD wholesales imported water supplies to communities throughout southern California. Fifty percent of Long Beach’s water supply is purchased from the MWD.
Since June of last year, the Long Beach Board of Water Commissioners has implemented extraordinary conservation measures, including enforcement of new citywide restrictions on certain outdoor uses of water. These efforts have achieved an additional 8 percent reduction in water use citywide through February of this year.
The Long Beach Water Department is an urban, southern California retail water supply agency and the standard in water conservation and environmental stewardship.

Stop Running Toilets!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A-Fg0ykuQyw&feature=related

35% and counting...

Today, the expected allocation of imported water to southern California, from northern California sources, via the California Aqueduct, is set at 35%. A fact that's not changed since early February of this year. Due to last year's Delta Smelt ruling, pumping from the Delta is currently restricted, which in turn, is degrading Delta water quality.


During a joint Committee hearing held March 11, in Sacramento, an official from the Metropolitan Water District read a prepared statement into the record. The following is an excerpt from that statement:

"Despite a healthy snow pack and a series of wet storms, deliveries from the State Water Project in 2008 are dramatically curtailed. Deliveries could be impacted further due to the potential listing of another fish species, the Long Fin Smelt. Listing of additional species is also possible. Metropolitan is rapidly depleting its existing water supply reserves with no relief in sight. This depletion of reserves is occurring despite significant long-term water use efficiency investments (conservation, recycling and groundwater treatment) that have been made over the past two decades. Last month, Metropolitan’s Board of Directors approved a method of allocating water when our reserves are no longer available to avoid region-wide shortages. We have already reduced deliveries to our agricultural customers by 30 percent. In San Diego County, avocado farmers are severely pruning their trees, a technique known as stunting, as a method of keeping them alive on minimal amounts of water in hopes that the orchards could be productive again in the future."


"Once again, we call on the Metropolitan Water District and the Southern California water supply community to join Long Beach and take a more aggressive, long-term, public stance on the need to immediately conserve water," stated Bill Townsend, President of the Long Beach Board of Water Commissioners. "Implementation of strict prohibitions on certain outdoor water uses, bolstered with aggressive public communications, is the future for southern California. We're asking our colleagues to embrace this future, today. We, collectively, need to engineer a permanent lifestyle change in the way we all see and use our water, so that inefficient and wasteful uses are no longer tolerated by anyone. The only way this kind of effort is going to be sustained, is if we have all of Southern California on board."

BIG Beach Clean Up - Sat., March 22nd!

HELP CLEAN UP THIS SATURDAY!

The Community Action Team's "30-Minute Beach Cleanup" and Justin Rudd are co-hosting -- with Edwin Dayrit Jr. (a QUEST student at Millikan High School) -- a special beach cleanup this Sat., Mar. 22 from 11-1 at 1 54th Place, just east of Claremont Ave. and just 10 blocks east of the regular 30-Minute Beach Cleanups at Granada Ave.

Free parking, gloves, bags, refreshments, door prizes and volunteer credit forms if anyone wants to hop on down this Easter weekend and help Mother Nature.

You must be present at 1 p.m. in order to be eligible for a prize.

Redoing your landscape? Go Native! Everybody is doing it!

What look are you going for? Classic Craftsman, Japanese Garden, Spanish Mission or Desert Riviera? All of these looks are possible using plants that are native to California. Going native not only improves the look of your home, it requires less water and maintenance; it attracts wildlife, like humming birds and butterflies; and it helps protect our coastal environment from harmful run-off, which is usually loaded with chemicals and other contaminants.

Fact: Typical grass lawns require 82 inches of rain per year. Long Beach receives, on average, around 13 inches of rainfall per year. Plants native to California only require around 12 inches of rain, or much less in some instances, per year.

You can learn more about California native plants and landscapes by visiting, www.lbwater.org, or going to www.bewaterwise.org.

Get design templates, local native plant retailers, a list of popular native plants, schedule of FREE professional landscape classes, hundreds of FREE resources, and landscape grants...all at our website.