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U.S. Seasonal Drought Outlook: More of the same; Long Beach Water Commission urges mandatory outdoor prohibitions for SoCal

Posted by: Maven on September 10, 2008 at 3:38 pm

From the Long Beach Water Department:

LONG BEACH, CA – A report recently issued by the United States Climate Prediction Center says that Southern California’s drought will continue or intensify through at least November. 2008 will be the fourth driest year in 114 years. Meanwhile, the Long Beach Board of Water Commissioners are continuing to call on southern California cities to implement more aggressive, permanent, extraordinary conservation measures, particularly prohibitions on certain outdoor water uses, in light of the rapid depletion of critical in-state water supply reserves.

According to Kevin Wattier, General Manager of the Long Beach Water Department, “critical northern California reservoirs that provide communities throughout southern California with much of their imported water are today at their lowest level since 1977. Collectively, Lake Oroville, Shasta and San Luis Reservoir are below 30% full.” Imported water from northern California is a significant water supply source for the City of Long Beach, and the rest of California. Nearly half of the city’s water supply is imported from outside the region. “Every gallon of water we do not use is a gallon of water left in storage to help lessen the impact of an expected, critical water supply shortage,” added Wattier.

On Thursday, September 4th, the Long Beach Board of Water Commissioners announced that Long Beach water demand for August 2008 set a new 10-year record low. It is the 8th record setting month for low water use since the Board of Water Commissioner’s declaration of an imminent water supply shortage in September 2007. August 2008 water demand was 18.9 percent below the 10-year average water demand; it was over 18 percent below August 2007. Long Beach water demand for fiscal year 2008 is tracking at 9 percent below the 10-year average for annual water use. Last month, the Board of Water Commissioners announced that Long Beach had set a new record low for July 2008, which was 16 percent below the lowest July on record over the past 10 years.

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 nearly one-year ago to forestall and lessen the impact of an expected water supply shortage,” according to Townsend. The Board’s Declaration was necessitated by the profound impact of permanent reductions to imported water deliveries into southern California; the dramatic reductions in water storage levels in key reservoirs in northern California (just 40% full at that time); and climate conditions resulting in drought.

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

See the drought, HERE

Ryan J. Alsop
Director of Government & Public Affairs
Long Beach Water

September 10, 2008 · Filed Under Drought, Weather & Snowpack, Water Agency News

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