On Tuesday, May 10, the City of Los Angeles announced that, due to our continuing drought (now considered one of the worst in modern history), new landscape watering restrictions will take effect on June 1 (pending city council approval).
Currently, LADWP customers are allowed to water up to three days per week, but staring in June, that schedule will be cut to just two days a week, for just 8 minutes per station, and only between the hours of 4 p.m. to 9 a.m. Customers’ specific watering days will be determined by their addresses, with odd-numbered addresses allowed to water on Mondays and Fridays, and even numbered addresses allowed to water on Thursdays and Sundays.
Penalties for non-compliance with the new restrictions will be a warning, followed by escalating fines for each subsequent violation.
Also, in addition to the cutbacks for landscape watering, which currently accounts for 35% of LADWP’s total water use, LA Mayor Eric Garcetti announced that “LADWP is also asking customers to reduce their per-person use by seven gallons a day, which is the equivalent of reducing showering time by four minutes, or shutting the faucet off during a 2-minute tooth brushing cycle and 5-minute shaving cycle.”
To help with this effort, LADWP is also offering a number of rebates on turf replacement, water-efficient appliances, rotating sprinkler nozzles, high -efficiency showerheads, real-time water use monitoring devices, and more, for both residential and commercial customers. Details are available at http://www.ladwp.com/save.
In his statement about the new restrictions, Garcetti lauded LA’s history of successful water conservation efforts, but also said, “Los Angeles didn’t just become one of the most water efficient cities in the world overnight” and “while the reduction in outdoor watering is important, it’s just one piece of our larger conservation effort – so if we want our children and grandchildren to be able to turn to the tap with confidence, we need to double down on the solutions that have made conservation a way of life in L.A.”
