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By Hector Becerra and Catherine Saillant
Los Angeles Times
October 9, 2007
Concerned about future supplies, the Metropolitan Water
District announced Monday that it would cut shipments to
Southern California agriculture by 30% and that customers
would eventually pay higher rates.
The action by the giant water wholesaler, which provides water
to 18 million people across Southern California, marks its
first step in dealing with upcoming reductions in water supply
and the record dry conditions locally.
MWD General Manager Jeffrey Kightlinger said that if the dry
weather continues into this winter, local agencies would have
to consider mandatory rationing, an extreme measure not seen
since the severe drought of the early 1990s.
"People will feel this," he said. "We really
want to see if people are willing to conserve absent
rationing."
A federal judge this summer issued a ruling that is expected
to slash water deliveries from the Sacramento-San Joaquin
Delta by about a third, part of an effort to save the
endangered delta smelt.
As a result, the MWD will have to import costlier water
through transfers from places such as the Central Valley,
ultimately raising customer rates by roughly 10%. That's on
top of rate hikes many water agencies had previously planned
to make up for infrastructure costs and other expenses.
The MWD already has locked in rates with local water agencies
through the end of next year. Though customers might not face
rate hikes until 2009, it's also possible some agencies might
consider increases more quickly -- potentially to encourage
conservation.
"Rates are going to go up," Kightlinger said.
"It used to be we only had to go to those expensive
[sources] to replace water 25% to 30% of the time. Now we're
doing that 70% of the time."
Despite such concerns, Southern California's water situation
is still significantly less dire than it was during the last
major drought, in 1990-91. The region has seen less than 4
inches of rain this year, and the Sierra snowpack -- a key
barometer of water supply -- is down sharply.
But most of the major reservoirs that serve the Southland are
full, and the MWD's overall water reserve is several times
larger than it was during the last drought.
On Monday, agriculture officials were still assessing how
farmers would deal with the cut in water supplies, coming on
top of an already bone-dry year.
In Riverside County, which has a $1.1-billion agricultural
industry, officials said cutbacks could threaten farmers'
ability to continue growing certain crops, notably some
water-thirsty nursery stock. The county also produces table
grapes, bell peppers and dates.
Officials from the local water districts will meet with
growers next month in a workshop sponsored by the Riverside
County Farm Bureau, said Executive Director Steve Pastor.
"They know it's coming," Pastor said. "We just
want to get them together to talk about what to do."
Cities and other agencies in the region differ greatly in
their reliance on the MWD's imported water.
Los Angeles will probably be less affected than some neighbors
because the city's Department of Water and Power receives a
large portion of its supply from the Owens Valley -- a source
that has thus far been uninterrupted. Still, L.A. receives 34%
of its water from the MWD.
But across Southern California, many cities receive anywhere
from a third to two-thirds of their water from the MWD, with
the proportion depending largely on local groundwater
supplies.
Anaheim gets 31% of its water from the MWD, but San Diego
relies on the district for 73%. Long Beach gets about 50% of
its water from the agency, and Santa Monica 82%.
San Diego officials say that until the MWD proposes specific
rate changes, they don't know what kind of rate increases they
will implement. But the city is so dependent on imported water
that officials said they are worried.
"We're very concerned," said Bill Harris, deputy
press secretary for San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders. "For
the foreseeable future, we're dependent on Metropolitan and
what they do."
Harris said San Diego has been aggressively pushing
conservation measures, including a "20-gallon
challenge" in which residents are asked to conserve that
much water a day.
On Monday, officials with the San Diego County Water Authority
addressed the City Council about the city's water outlook.
Locally, Long Beach has taken the most radical action on water
conservation. The city's water board has prohibited residents
from watering their lawns during the day or more than three
times a week. Residents cannot use water hoses to clean
driveways, patios, sidewalks or other paved areas unless they
use a pressurized broom device.
Long Beach restaurants are barred from serving water unless
diners expressly request it.
"Let's not just sit around and pray for rain. Everyone
has to get serious about conservation," said Kevin
Wattier, general manager of the Long Beach Water District,
adding that the agency expects to raise rates within the next
year or so.
MWD officials said other factors could worsen the water crunch
over the next few months.
Besides the tiny smelt, the fate of chinook salmon that
migrate through the delta could soon lead to another court
decision, which could further restrict supplies.
"The court has heard arguments about the salmon, and
we're awaiting their ruling on it," Kightlinger said.
"That could make the situation that much tougher to deal
with."
The Metropolitan Water District has had to draw from stored
reserves, which are meant to be tapped in the event of a
natural disaster or other catastrophe. Unless something
changes, those reserves could be expended within a few years.
"We're faced with the prospect that Metropolitan could
deplete those reserves as quickly as three years if this
critical drought condition continues and if nothing is
done," said Debra Man, the MWD's chief operating officer
and assistant general manager.
Timothy Quinn, executive director of the Assn. of California
Water Agencies, said the anxiety he and others are feeling is
comparable to that felt during the prolonged drought and water
crisis of the early '90s.
"I remember the angst felt back during the last drought,
especially in 1991. I remember it like yesterday," Quinn
said. "I have the same sense of foreboding today."
hector.becerra@latimes.com
catherine.saillant.latimes.com
Times staff writer Nancy Vogel contributed to this report.
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