Long Beach Water Board Issues New Water Supply Alert

Long Beach Water Board Issues New ALERT on So. Cal Water Supply; La Nina Conditions Now Predicted
City's water consumption is 15% below historical 10-year average through mandatory conservation; December '08 nearly 25% below historical 10-year average.

LONG BEACH, CA - Long Beach's Board of Water Commissioners has issued a new water supply ALERT for the City of Long Beach and southern California, due to extremely weak precipitation and snow pack in the northern Sierra Nevada; an uneventful forecast for northern California watersheds, including new predictions of dry La Nina conditions forming in the Pacific Ocean; extremely low water supply reserve levels; and the anticipated additional curtailment of imported water deliveries from north to south due to endangered species issues. The new ALERT urges Long Beach residents to sustain the City's record breaking reductions in water use, which is 15 percent below the City's historical 10-year average for the Fiscal Year started in October 2008. More importantly, Long Beach Water officials are calling on area cities to engage their residents. "These realities should be a catalyst for southern California water supply managers to immediately increase action on extraordinary conservation measures," stated John Allen, President of the Long Beach Board of Water Commissioners. "Southern California water suppliers should be practicing for the worst; hope is not an adequate strategy here."