Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Long Beach Implores Action on Water Conservation

Water Commission Implores Action on Water Conservation

Long Beach Water Official: "We are worse off today than we were last year, from every perspective that matters"

LONG BEACH, CA - Today, Long Beach Board of Water Commissioners President, John Allen, is again urging area water suppliers to move more aggressively to forestall and lessen the impact of a severe water shortage by immediately implementing mandatory prohibitions on certain outdoor uses of water. "I don't know where some of our area colleagues are getting their information. The information we've been looking at tells us that we are worse off today then we were last year, from every perspective that matters," according to Allen. The Long Beach Board of Water Commissioners declared a water supply shortage imminent in September of 2007.

According to Allen, while there is much discussion taking place regarding the state of our water supply, several critical pieces of information continue to be overlooked, or left out of the discussion entirely. "Today, March 10th, our combined storage on the State Water Project is 200,000 acre-feet lower than this time last year. While the snowpack in the northern Sierra watershed is 90 percent of normal, last year at this time it was 113 percent of normal. The 10-day forecast for critical northern California watersheds shows zero rainfall. While we have absolutely no idea what the weather may hold in the future, we can assume that it's likely that continued below normal rain and snowfall will make our problems much worse than they are currently."

"We need to come to grips with the reality that here in southern California, we no longer have enough water to meet demand, even under normal weather conditions," stated Kevin Wattier, General Manager of the Long Beach Water Department. "Yes, storage and snow pack are lower than they were this time last year, but add to that the new delta regulatory regime, which has cut State Water Project deliveries by 30 percent, and the recently increased protection status of the delta smelt, along with a pending biological opinion on the health of salmon populations, and you begin to understand all that must be considered when you're making water supply decisions for tens of millions of people. We are operating under a structural water supply deficit."

On September 13, 2007, the Long Beach Board of Water Commissioners issued a Declaration of Imminent Water Supply Shortage and activated the City's Emergency Water Supply Shortage Plan. As a result, the Board of Water Commissioners issued mandatory prohibitions on certain outdoor uses of water. "The Board took the action it did, over 18 months ago now, to specifically forestall and lessen the impact of an expected water supply shortage," said Allen. The Board's Declaration and implementation of permanent outdoor watering prohibitions in 2007 was specifically necessitated by the profound impact of permanent reductions to imported water deliveries into southern California, dramatic reductions in water storage levels in key reservoirs in northern California, and our climate realities.
Last month, Long Beach set a new record 10-year low for water consumption, using 27.6 percent below the city's historical 10 year average. For the Fiscal Year, which started October 1, Long Beach water consumption is over 18 percent below the historical 10-year average. The 10-year historical average is from FY'98 to FY'07, which are the 10 years prior to Long Beach's call for extraordinary conservation and prohibitions on certain outdoor uses of water. February '09 is the sixteenth record setting month for low water consumption since September 2007.

The Long Beach Water Department is an urban, southern California retail water supply agency, and the standard in water conservation and environmental stewardship.

1 comment:

BeWaterWise Rep said...

Fresh water reserve levels in Southern California have dropped significantly over the last few years. There are dozens of little things we can all do to save water and combat the water shortage situation we are facing in Southern California. If you go to http://tr.im/sfKH you will see a water saving tips page that lists Indoor and Outdoor tips and how much water is saved with each one. You would be amazed at how simple these actions are yet how much effect they can be. Things like turning off the water when you brush your teeth can save 3 gallons per day, taking shorter showers saves 5 gallons a day, and installing a smart sprinkler controller saves 40 gallons per day! Check out all the tips on the site and pass it on to fellow Southern Californians!