LA H20 Use Drops to 32-Year Low

The LA Department of Water and Power (DWP) imposed a rule June 1 barring ratepayers from using lawn sprinklers at any time other than set hours on Monday and Thursday. With turf across the San Fernando Valley turning various shades of yellow and brown, the City Council voted last week to provide exemptions from that rule for public parks, golf courses and other large landowners who can prove they have met the DWP's conservation targets another way.

Just as Los Angeles lawmakers have begun to chafe at the city's new irrigation rules, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power announced this morning that water demand by its ratepayers reached a 32-year low for the month of June. Water use by DWP ratepayers fell by 11 percent in June, compared with the same month in 2008, utility officials said.

''I want to thank our customers for cutting their use. It's paying off,'' said Jim McDaniel, senior assistant general manager of the DWP's water system. ''What we have asked them to do isn't easy, but the results are proof of their efforts.''

Still, Councilman Greig Smith went further Friday, calling for the DWP to add a third watering day to allow residents to keep their trees and turf from dying during triple-digit heat. Smith's plan calls for a maximum of eight minutes of sprinkler use on each of three days, instead of 15 minutes of sprinkler use on each of two days. The data released this morning by the DWP also said water use in single-family homes was 12.7 percent lower in June compared with the same month in 2008.

On June 1, the DWP also reduced the amount of water that single-family homeowners can purchase for the lowest price, a charge known as the Tier 1 rate. Residents who used more than their Tier 1 allocation were charged a higher rate for any water that was considered by the DWP to exceed a household's ''basic'' needs.