LADWP Statement on Lifting of Emergency Drought Declaration by Governor
April 10, 2017
“This year’s water supply picture looks much more encouraging, but we need to think longer term and continue to make water conservation a way of life. With climate change and another record hot year globally, we cannot count on future years to be this generous. We know that another drought will come. We just don’t know when. We need Angelenos to keep the conservation mindset that has grown stronger in recent years and keep using water efficiently. We also need to keep investing in developing local water supplies through stormwater capture and recycled water to protect us from future drought,” said Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) General Manager David Wright.
With over $2.4 billion in investments planned by LADWP over the next 10 years in water system infrastructure improvements, including local water supply development projects such as expansion of spreading grounds, recycled water and water replenishment, the amount of water sourced locally will grow substantially by 2040. Through one project alone, LADWP and LA County Flood Control District will more than double the amount of stormwater captured at Tujunga Spreading Grounds, capturing enough water to serve over 30,000 homes for a year.
LADWP customers have reduced their per capita water use 20 percent in less than three years, using just 104 gallons per person per day. This met the Mayor’s Sustainable City pLAn goal outlined in 2014. LADWP remains focused on achieving the additional Sustainable City pLAn goals of 50 percent reduction in purchased imported water by 2025, and 50 percent of our sources coming from local water by 2035.
“We have been blessed with a lot more rain locally and snow in the Sierras this year,” said Richard Harasick, LADWP Senior Assistant General Manager of Water. “But we cannot count on it next year or the year after. That’s why we need to expand our local stormwater capture capabilities through large infrastructure projects like the one underway at Tujunga Spreading Grounds, but also through smaller, local projects that capture water and allow it to percolate down to the natural storage we have in the San Fernando Valley Aquifer and other underground aquifers locally. We are saving for those ‘non-rainy days’ when we invest in local storage and foster programs like sustainable landscaping,” Harasick added.
