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Long Beach hits record low for water use in November; consumption in last 12 months is 10.1% below historical average

Posted by: Maven on December 5, 2008 at 7:26 am

From the Long Beach Water Department, this press release:

Today, the Long Beach Board of Water Commissioners have announced that Long Beach water demand for November 2008 has set a new record 10-year low. Long Beach water use this November was 12.1 percent below the historical 10-year average (’98-’07) water use. November ’08 water use was 7.9 percent below November ’07. November’s new record low marks the 11th record setting month for low water use since September 2007. Long Beach water consumption over the last 12 months is tracking at 10.1 percent below the historical 10-year average (’98-’07).

Last month, the Board announced that the City had a set a new record 10-year low for water consumption for Fiscal Year 2008. That announcement meant that the City had consumed less water in Fiscal Year ’08, than in any other year over the past decade. In fact, the City consumed less water in Fiscal Year ’08 than it did during the height of the 1987-1992 drought, with mandatory rationing and a population 15 percent smaller than today. The Long Beach Water Department is in its second year of extraordinary, mandatory water conservation due to an imminent water supply shortage in southern California.

“Waste not, want not,” says John Allen, President of the Long Beach Board of Water Commissioners. “Again, every gallon we don’t use is a gallon we leave in storage. This is an idea that should have been embraced months ago by every community in southern California. We have been using our storage to water our landscapes, and that storage is at historic low levels as we head into what may very well be another dry year.” The collective storage level of Lake Shasta, Lake Oroville and San Luis Reservoir, the feeders to the State Water Project, are the lowest they’ve been since 1977. This is a primary reason for the State Department of Water Resources’ recent announcement that water deliveries from northern California to the Central Valley, and on to southern California, may be 85 percent below what is being requested for these regions next year.

“We have got to move quickly as a region,” adds Kevin L. Wattier, General Manager of the Long Beach Water Department. Lake Oroville the primary reservoir on the State Water Project ended November at only 28 percent of capacity and was below 1 million acre-feet for only the second time in it’s 40 year history. “This, along with other very serious developments over the past 15 months demand that more deliberate action with regard to outdoor prohibitions on certain water uses need to be implemented throughout our region.”

Long Beach Water Conservation Effectiveness Indicators
• November 2008 has set a new record 10-year low
• November 2008 is 12.1% below historical 10-year average
• November 2008 is 7.9% below November 2007
• November 2008 demand was 4,600 acre-feet; November 2007 (previous record low) demand was 5,000 acre feet (An acre-foot is 325,851 gallons)
• Consumption in last 12 months is 10.1% below the historical average
• This is Long Beach’s 11th record-setting month for low water consumption since September 2007

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 a year ago now, to forestall and lessen the impact of an expected water supply shortage,” according to Board president, John Allen. 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; and climate realities.

Earlier this week, the Long Beach Water Department announced nine winners of a citywide, water-efficient landscape opportunity drawing that was announced in early October. The nine winning homes, one from each City Council district will receive a professionally designed and installed water efficient front yard. 50 to 70 percent of all the water used in Long Beach is used outdoors, primarily on lush, non-native landscapes. The nine water-efficient landscapes will serve as demonstration projects for the Long Beach Water Department.

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

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

December 5, 2008 · Filed Under Water Agency News

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