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From the Long Beach Water Department: Take advantage of rain on Saturday; No sprinklers!

Posted by: Maven on October 3, 2008 at 1:42 pm

From the Long Beach Water Department, this press release:

A storm system is expected to hit the western United States today and stay through tomorrow, Saturday. Today, rain, heavy at times, will develop over Washington, Oregon, and northern California. On Saturday the rain will move south through central California, with some showers expected to reach the Long Beach area. The Long Beach Water Department is calling on area residents and businesses to take advantage of this rainfall, by shutting off irrigation systems until Monday, October 6th. Residents should continue to be aware that a severe water supply shortage for Long Beach and the rest of southern California is expected, and the need for extraordinary water conservation and adherence to citywide water use prohibitions is critical. Residents may sign up to receive an automatic notice reminding them to adjust their sprinklers according to changes in weather patterns by visiting, www.lbwater.org, and clicking on E-Watering Update.

Yesterday, California Department of Water Resources director Lester Snow issued this statement urging continued conservation and reminding everyone that the drought is not over: “Weather forecasters are predicting rain this week in both Northern and Southern California. However, it is important for Californians to understand that a small rainstorm will not end our water problems. We will still be in a drought. We all need to continue to conserve water at our homes and our places of work. Because of two back-to-back severely dry years, not even one extremely wet winter will end California’s drought. We would need several above average years to replenish our reservoirs and groundwater supply. Despite this weekend’s bit of rain, long-range weather forecasts predict 2009 to be another dry year for California, making it essential that we save water in every possible way.”

Also yesterday, the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California (MWD) officials have indefinitely suspended boat launches at southern California’s largest reservoir, Diamond Valley Lake, starting at the close of business Monday, October 13, because of low water levels. “This action speaks volumes about the seriousness of the water-supply situation southern California faces next year, particularly should we not rise to meet the water-saving challenge before us.” stated Jeff Kightlinger, General Manager of the MWD. While we all remain proud of Diamond Valley and the recreation it provides, the reservoir’s primary purpose is to help maintain water supply reliability for MWD, our 26 member agencies and nearly 19 million southern Californians. Long Beach is a member agency of the MWD.

The Long Beach Board of Water Commissioners are continuing to urge 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 and those water supply realities highlighted above by the head of the California Department of Water Resources. 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 percent full.” Imported water from these sources is a significant water supply source for the City of Long Beach. 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,” he added.

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

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

October 3, 2008 · Filed Under Drought, Weather & Snowpack

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