S.D. Faces 31% Cut in Imported Water Supply

Faced with record-low rainfall and no prospects for relief, the Metropolitan Water District declared a water emergency on Tuesday and cut by 31% the amount of water it delivers to 27 agencies from Ventura to San Diego.

The 46-to-1 vote by the MWD’s board of directors--a move widely dreaded but not unexpected--marked the most severe water cutback in the giant agency’s history and signaled the increasing severity of the drought, now in its fifth year.

And, although conceding that the one-third cut is dramatic and could prompt mandatory water rationing in many areas, MWD officials warned that still harsher reductions may lie ahead for Southern California if dry conditions persist.

Many communities already are preparing for that day. The Los Angeles City Council, for example, is expected to approve a mandatory rationing plan next week, ordering a 10% reduction in water use from 1986 levels as of March 1 and a 15% reduction by May 1. In contrast, the San Diego City Council continues to support Mayor Maureen O’Connor’s preferred strategy: voluntary water conservation.

MWD director S. Dell Scott, who represents Los Angeles on the board, said, “If we can’t get water from the heavens, then we have to create it, and the way we create it is to conserve. “The message is conservation, and I have always believed that the guy who turns on the tap has got to pay the bill.”

The board also agreed to allocate $30 million from MWD’s reserve fund to buy water from other sources around the state. Rice farmers in the Sacramento area, for instance, may be willing to take some land out of production this year and sell their water to thirsty cities.

Realizing that public awareness of the drought is vital to the success of conservation programs, the board also allocated $3.5 million for an advertising campaign. And it agreed to provide its members agencies with $5 million to implement programs urging residents to install water-saving shower heads and other devices.

To achieve the 31% reduction, MWD will cut deliveries for residential usage by 20% and those for agriculture by 50%. But water agencies will have the discretion to allocate their share as they wish. For example, some areas with economies heavily dependent on agriculture may opt to impose an evenly divided cut on both farmers and residential customers.

The board’s vote, although not unexpected, evoked a chorus of groans from representatives of agencies MWD supplies in six Southern California counties. Many officials predicted that coping with the cutback, which takes effect March 1, will cause a hardship certain to change lives and put a strain on agriculture and other businesses.

“This is a terrible situation,” said City Councilman Carrey Nelson of Brea, which gets 80% of its water from MWD. “It’s time to start praying.”

“Ouch!” winced Cynthia Crothers, a city councilwoman in the fast-growing Riverside County community of Moreno Valley. “Ten percent was livable. Twenty percent was going to hurt. But I can’t imagine 31%.”

In San Diego, a region that receives 95% of its water from MWD, the county Board of Supervisors responded by agreeing to reduce county government’s water consumption by 20% and, eventually, by up to 50%.

Talk of growth limits also came up in San Diego. At the suggestion of Supervisor Susan Golding, the board agreed to convene a meeting of water suppliers and building industry officials to forge a regional water-saving strategy that might include caps on development.

“We need to explore . . . the continuing approval of building permits for new development at a time when existing residents are being asked to reduce their own personal consumption,” Golding said.

Officials in some cities, like Brea, remained hopeful that voluntary conservation measures will be sufficient to achieve the savings. But many others, such as Los Angeles, are expected to quickly develop plans for mandatory water rationing, something uncommon in the Southland since the last drought in 1977.

Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley said through a spokesman that he is confident residents will respond to the call for conservation. “One thing is certain, the mayor believes now is the time to save water,” said spokesman Bill Chandler.

The Metropolitan Water District supplies 27 member agencies in Ventura, Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino and San Diego counties. Drawing primarily from the State Water Project and the Colorado River, the agency provides more than half the water used by 15 million Southern Californians.

Although the cuts become effective March 1, the board delayed until April 1 the implementation of the penalty phase. As an incentive to conserve, agencies will be charged triple the cost of any water used in excess of their limit. A 50% rebate will be available for agencies that use below their allotments, but MWD officials don’t expect to be writing many checks.

“In some areas, this is going to be a very tough adjustment to make,” said MWD spokesman Tim Skrove. “Some people won’t get there without sacrificing part or all of their lawns.”

The district may consider relaxing the limits for some areas hit with unusual circumstances, MWD General Manager Carl Boronkay said. Some allowance may be made for areas that already have successful conservation or water reclamation programs in place, and regions confronting an emergency shortage because of an unanticipated reduction in other water sources--an overtaxed ground water basin, for example--might also receive special consideration, he said.

The 31% cut is the third reduction by MWD in three months. In December, the board ordered agencies to reduce consumption by 10%. A month later, it increased the reduction to 17%, effective Feb. 1.

Only one board member, director Michael Nolan from Burbank, opposed the cutback. Nolan said he believed the district should eliminate deliveries to agriculture before making residents suffer through conservation.

“It’s not fair,” Nolan said in an interview. “This is unfair punishment to the people of Southern California.”

Although the one-third reduction approved Tuesday is certain to pinch scores of communities, Boronkay warned that the pain could easily increase. If abnormally low rainfall continues, cuts of 38% or even 45% may be necessary, and MWD officials already are drafting plans for such reductions, he said.

In the meantime, MWD resources director Don Adams said officials are “brainstorming regularly,” searching for ways to develop additional water sources to help see the Southland through this crisis.

One possibility, Adams said, focuses on the numerous ground-water basins that underlie parts of Los Angeles, Orange and San Bernardino counties. Overall, 1 million to 1.4 million acre feet of water are pulled from Southern California basins each year, Adams said.

A drawback to that plan is that many basins already are depleted by five years of drought. A second problem is that contamination has degraded portions of the basins, particularly in the San Gabriel Valley and in the San Bernardino area.

Times staff writers Amy Wallace and Mark Platte contributed to this story.

HIGHLIGHTS OF MWD DROUGHT PLAN

The Metropolitan Water District board of directors took a series of steps on Tuesday to cope with the state’s five-year drought. The board:

* Voted to require its 27 member agencies to reduce consumption by 31% overall. That represents a 50% cut in deliveries to agriculture and a 20% cut in water for residential usage. Further reductions will almost certainly be necessary if dry conditions persist.

* Approved the allocation of $30 million from the agency’s reserves to buy water that may become available from other sources around the state. Rice farmers in the Sacramento area, for instance, may be willing to take their land out of production this year and sell water to thirsty cities.

* Allocated $3.5 million for an advertising campaign to increase public awareness of the drought. Also approved $5 million to help member agencies with programs urging residents to fit homes with water-saving shower heads and other devices.