Rationing linked to dying fish

“It’s a serious situation,” said Steve Arakawa, director of the agency’s Water Resources Management Group. “Our main direction right now is to be prepared.”

And so it is with local water officials, who are at the mercy of weather and of regional decisions.

“We’re certainly watching the situation,” said Dennis Erdman, general manager of the Crescenta Valley Water District.

As a result of a public push for water conservation, usage dropped 9% in July, he said. Figures were not immediately available for August.

A measure of Glendale’s conservation campaign is not complete, but Waters said initial results weren’t very encouraging despite an aggressive campaign promoting water audits, low-flow appliances and faucets and other programs.

More conservation now could stave off mandatory controls later, Arakawa said.

Water officials are asking customers to turn off faucets in between use, install low-flow appliances, limit baths, use brooms instead of hoses and modify lawn irrigation times, among other measures.

Metropolitan is working with its member agencies to make sure their processes for mandatory rationing are in place and established when they are needed, Arakawa said.

For Glendale and the Crescenta Valley, a reduction in their allotments of even 10% would likely trigger a rationing system of strict code enforcement for water use, officials said.

Violators would be subject to fines and citations.

“Everyone’s ready to move to a system of mandatory penalties,” Waters said.

The State Water Project will issue its first round of allotment decisions Dec. 1.