🚀 go-pugleaf

On Sat, 7 Jun 2008 13:37:54 -0600, "Iconoclast"
<iconoclast@ecoweb.co.zw> wrote:

>"The snowpack this year was good, we had some rain, but that's only a dent" 
>in the drought, he said. "It's time for the three-minute shower, time to 
>stop letting the tap run when you brush your teeth. We want these to become 
>permanent changes in Southern California."
>
>
>California needs to address the invasion from Mexico and Central America 
>rather than place limits on water to farmers and U.S. citizens.  Senators 
>and Representatives who want more foreign guest workers for Microsoft and 
>Silicon Valley should be voted out of office.
>
>http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-mwd7-2008jun07,0,5108182.story
>
>Southern California water agency urges residents to reduce consumption
>Metropolitan Water District plans to issue a nonbinding supply alert, 
>recommending that cities enforce conservation laws already on the books.
>By Molly Hennessy-Fiske, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
>June 7, 2008
>The public agency that distributes water to much of the Southland is urging 
>residents to reduce consumption by 10% to 20% to protect reserves during a 
>worsening drought.
>
>"We're coming to the point in Southern California life where there's no room 
>for water waste," said Anthony Fellow, vice chairman of the board of the 
>Metropolitan Water District, which distributes imported water to 18 million 
>people from Ventura County to the Mexican border.
>
>After drawing down their reserves by half during the last two years, Fellow 
>and other board members are preparing to move to Step 2 of their three-step 
>conservation plan: a nonbinding water supply alert. It could come as soon as 
>Tuesday.
>
>The alert recommends that cities enforce water conservation laws already on 
>the books. Los Angeles and Long Beach are enforcing such restrictions, but 
>other cities need to update or better enforce their ordinances, said MWD 
>General Manager Jeff Kightlinger during a conference call with Fellow.
>
>The announcement comes days after Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger proclaimed a 
>statewide drought because of low reserves and court-ordered water 
>restrictions protecting endangered fish.
>
>Though cities cannot be penalized for ignoring the alert, if they tap 
>reserves to dangerous levels, the MWD could move to Step 3 of its plan: 
>allocating cities a set amount of water and fining those that exceed the 
>limit. Cities often pass the fines on to consumers through rate increases 
>and mandatory restrictions on water use.
>
>"If we can't get the right kind of response out of the public, at that point 
>we have to move to more severe measures," Kightlinger said.
>
>The earliest the MWD could start allocating water, if the alert is issued 
>next week, would be spring 2009, Kightlinger said.
>
>The agency already plans to increase the rate it charges cities by 10% for 
>each of the next three calendar years, a spokesman said.
>
>The last time the board issued a similar alert, in 1991, residents reduced 
>consumption by 30%, mostly through indoor measures such as installing 
>water-saving shower heads, Kightlinger said. Now the agency is encouraging 
>residents to conserve in their yards by installing sprinklers, sweeping 
>instead of spraying driveways and planting drought-resistant shrubs.
>
>Even if this year turns out to be wetter than expected, residents still need 
>to conserve, Fellow said.
>
>"The snowpack this year was good, we had some rain, but that's only a dent" 
>in the drought, he said. "It's time for the three-minute shower, time to 
>stop letting the tap run when you brush your teeth. We want these to become 
>permanent changes in Southern California."
>
>molly.hennessy-fiske
>
>@latimes.com
>