LADWP continues focus on long-term water-saving efforts
LOS ANGELES (July 31, 2023) – After observing two-days-a-week outdoor watering restrictions for the past thirteen months, all Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) customers can begin watering their outdoor landscapes for up to three-days-a-week with the return to the City’s Phase 2 Emergency Water Conservation Ordinance (Ordinance), effective July 27, 2023. LADWP customers had previously been under the less restrictive, three-days-a-week watering ordinance since 2009, before the historic three-year-drought triggered a statewide water emergency last year. LADWP responded to that emergency, and to limits on water supply deliveries from the Bay Delta and the Colorado River that makes up portion of its water supply, by moving customers to two-days-a-week watering on June 1, 2022.
After experiencing a record snowpack created by the unprecedented amount of precipitation earlier this year, the Mayor and City Council have approved LADWP’s recommendation to revert back to three-days-a-week outdoor watering.
“We want to thank our customers for continuing to lead on conservation and helping us exceed our water conservation goals,” said Anselmo Collins, LADWP Senior Assistant General Manager of the Water System. “Over the past year, Angelenos reduced their water use an additional 10%, which is a remarkable achievement considering this was on top of the substantial long-term water conservation our customers had already achieved.”
The return to three-days-a-week watering means customers with street addresses ending in odd-numbers may water on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays and customers with even-numbered street addresses may water on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays, before 9 a.m. or after 4 p.m., when the evaporation rate is appreciably lower than during the middle of the day.
Hand watering is allowed every day before 9 a.m. and after 4 p.m. if the hose is equipped with a self-closing water shut-off device.
The following water conservation practices continue to be in place under Phase 2. They include:
- Limiting outdoor watering with sprinklers to eight minutes per station on permitted watering days
- Watering with sprinklers using water-conserving nozzles are permitted for up to 15 minutes, twice a day, on the permitted watering day
- No water should flow off of your property
- No water should leak from any pipe or fixture
- No watering within 48 hours after a measurable rain event
- No hosing of driveway or sidewalk
- No washing of vehicles using a hose without a self-closing nozzle
Customers can visit ladwp.com/wateringdays to learn more about current watering restrictions.
LADWP’s Water Conservation Response Unit (Water CRU) will continue to patrol the streets of Los Angeles to educate Angelenos on the days of the week watering restrictions and to enforce the Ordinance. Members of the public can report water waste to the Water CRU by visiting ladwp.com/waterwaste and filling out a form online.
LADWP continues to offer many rebates and incentive programs, which will continue to help customers not only identify areas of potential savings, but also make the changes needed to help them make water conservation a way of life. Recently increased rebates include:
- $5-per-square-foot turf replacement rebate for residential and commercial customers,
- $500 high-efficiency clothes washer rebate,
- $250 high-efficiency toilet rebates, and
- Technical assistance program incentive of up to $2 million for commercial customers to perform customized water saving improvements at their facilities.
LADWP also offers a substantial discount for the purchase of a Flume device, a smart home water monitoring device that attaches directly to the customer’s water meter, which delivers real-time water usage data to the customer’s smartphone or tablet via a downloaded app.
As temperatures heat up for the summer months and we face extreme shifts in weather patterns, Collins reminds customers, “We encourage all Angelenos to keep saving water wherever possible, while we continue to invest in developing our local water supplies to adapt to our changing climate.”
Online Resources:
LADWP Residential Rebates: ladwp.com/save
LADWP Commercial Rebates: ladwp.com/cwr
Know your watering days: ladwp.com/wateringdays
To report water waste: ladwp.com/waterwaste
The latest LADWP news: ladwpnews.com
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