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Yesterday at a press conference with Mexico City Mayor Marcelo Ebrard regarding the renewal of a Sister City relationship, Mayor Villaraigosa went off topic, but with good reason: water woes could be ahead, according to the Daily News.
With the fires, extreme water drought and light snowpack this year, water is tight. Earlier this summer, the mayor made a call for the public to voluntarily reduce water use, hoping for a 10% decrease (even though an LA Times investigation found that his, the city attorney and other councilmember's households used an above average amount of water). According to the DWP, overall water use is only down 3% compared to the same time last year.
Currently, a small team of water police, aka the Drought Busters, are patrolling the city to find water misuse, trying to get people to voluntarily cut back. But come 2008, citations and enforced and mandatory conservation may be enacted.
The City of Long Beach has already begun mandatory water restrictions. For us in Los Angeles, we may want to consider the urban adage, "If it's Yellow, Mellow; If it's Brown, Flush it Down."
Photo by Greg Westfall via Flickr