LA plans to impose twice-weekly landscape watering limit

LOS ANGELES

The City of Los Angeles plans to require residents and businesses to reduce outdoor landscape watering from three days a week to two as California’s drought worsens, Mayor Eric Garcetti announced Tuesday.

The planned restriction for Los Angeles Department of Water and Power customers is less severe than a recent ruling by Southern California’s Metropolitan Water District requiring some customers it serves to reduce watering to a times per week.

Los Angeles’ restriction is set to go into effect on June 1 after receiving early approval from the city council.

Garcetti said Los Angeles may be less restrictive than the other water district due to the continued efforts of its nearly 4 million residents to conserve water.

“We use a little less water today than we did over 30 years ago with a million more people,” Garcetti told reporters.

Garcetti has always urged homeowners to replace parched lawns with drought-resistant landscaping.

While the Los Angeles Department of Water and Electricity is a municipal utility, the Metropolitan Water District is essentially a giant wholesaler supplying 26 public water agencies that supply water to 19 million people.

The Metropolitan Water District’s one-day-a-week watering restriction will affect approximately 6 million residents and businesses.

State water authorities were scheduled to hold a drought outlook briefing in California on Tuesday afternoon.