The Limited Times

Now you can see non-English news...

Los Angeles imposes strictest water rationing in the face of drought

2022-05-11T03:56:41.840Z


The authorities limit the use of the liquid outdoors to one or two days for 10 million people in several counties


A woman hoses down the driveway of her home in the city of Monterey Park, east of Los Angeles. FREDERIC J. BROWN (AFP)

Goodbye to the green pastures of Southern California.

The severe drought affecting the most populous state in the United States has forced the imposition of strict water rationing measures.

Starting June 1, 10 million residents of Los Angeles and its gigantic metropolitan area will see supply reduced.

Angelenos will have two days to water the gardens and use the water for outdoor activities.

In other areas, those most affected by the drought, this will be limited to a single day of the week.

The scarcity of water in a critical period of the drought and in a year in which experts predict a worsening of conditions, has forced the authorities to reduce the water supply by 35%.

“We are witnessing conditions that have never been seen before.

We need a significant reduction in demand,” warned the head of the agency, Adel Hagekhalil, at the end of April.

Then, the official reported a series of measures that limit the use of the liquid to only one day to six million inhabitants spread over the counties of Ventura, San Bernardino and some parts of Los Angeles.

The measure announced Tuesday morning by the authorities is not so strict.

This is because Los Angeles County has imposed some rules since 2009 to reduce demand.

A system engineer also explained that the city distributes the liquid it receives from various sources: the complex system of aqueducts, one of the greatest prides of southern California, underground reserves and the supply it receives from the Colorado River (which has the highest level low in decades and that forced the government to ration the distribution of water since last August).

The idea of ​​the authorities is to reduce the daily per capita consumption of water from 400 liters (without distinguishing between residential, commercial or industrial employment) to 300 liters in order to avoid the most severe plan of restrictions.

If it fails to reach this goal, the system managers could announce worse measures for September.

The measures include prohibiting the use of water outdoors.

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti has been optimistic that Angelenos are up to the challenge.

"We must and we have to do it," said the Democratic politician.

Those in charge of the system have recalled that the proper use of water has allowed the city to use the same amount of liquid as half a century ago with more than a million new inhabitants.

"We believe that this effort is what allows us to enter this new phase and be able to rise to the challenge," said Anselmo Collins, one of the employees of the public body.

The drought in California extends for the third year in a row.

The alarms are more severe in 2022, since it is expected to be the driest year on record and with very high temperatures.

Water reserves throughout the entity are at a minimum and the public body has recognized that it does not have sufficient quantities to distribute in the north of the State.

The situation, especially pressing, is extensive to the entire West, a region that has suffered a mega-drought for 20 years that has worsened thanks to climate change.

Scientists from the University of California say that the last 20 years have been the driest for the region since the year 800.

You can follow CLIMA Y MEDIO AMBIENTE on

Facebook

and

Twitter

, or sign up here to receive

our weekly newsletter

Source: elparis

All news articles on 2022-05-11

You may like

News/Politics 2024-02-05T22:10:38.565Z
News/Politics 2024-02-01T20:49:53.666Z

Trends 24h

News/Politics 2024-03-27T16:45:54.081Z
News/Politics 2024-03-28T06:04:53.137Z

Latest

© Communities 2019 - Privacy

The information on this site is from external sources that are not under our control.
The inclusion of any links does not necessarily imply a recommendation or endorse the views expressed within them.