Week in review

The new regulations take effect Aug. 1, at which point utility officials are expected to ask for and get their three-days-a-week watering restrictions to reduce usage citywide by 10%. Watering would be restricted to Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday for no more than 10 minutes a day. Watering irrigation would also be banned between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m.

Glendale Water & Power pushed for the water restrictions to help it stay within a reduced allotment that went into effect Wednesday from the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, which supplies up to 70% of Glendale’s water.

Glendale joins cities across the region in enacting or preparing for water restrictions. In June, the Crescenta Valley Water District, another Metropolitan client, increased its water rationing, limiting outdoor watering to only two days a week.

In order for the city’s conservation efforts to produce the necessary reduction and keep the utility from incurring heavy penalties from Metropolitan, officials stress that all residents must comply with the regulations.

Overall, La Crescenta residents seem to have taken to the regulations, resulting in an almost 20% reduction in water use in the first two weeks of June compared to the period last year, said Dennis Erdman, general manager of the Crescenta Valley Water District.

Next week, Glendale Water & Power will begin a massive public outreach campaign — including direct mailings, public service announcements, newspaper advertisements and bill inserts — to get the word out about what residents should expect.

 Apparently convinced that a better deal might be found elsewhere, the City Council on Tuesday voted narrowly to explore hiring a new federal lobbyist after some members on the dais said they wanted to explore other options.

The City Council voted 3 to 2 to solicit bids for federal lobbying services after denying a recommendation from city managers to renew the city’s one-year, $88,000 contract with David Turch and Associates, a Washington, D.C.-based firm that has petitioned the federal government on the city’s behalf since 2003. The firm represents several Southern California cities, including Burbank.

Mayor Frank Quintero, who initiated the request to see what else is out there, was joined by council members Laura Friedman and John Drayman after he said he was not ready to recommit to Turch.