A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment
June 10, 2008
2. Supply –
MWD poised to announce Southern California water-supply alert today
Riverside Press Enterprise
WATER: Agency mulls ending agriculture discount
North County
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MWD poised to announce Southern California water-supply alert today
Riverside Press Enterprise
By Jennifer Bowles , staff writer
Board members of
If not enough water is saved over the next year, rationing could begin by next summer, officials warn.
"All of this is an attempt to stretch out our reserves and make sure we don't run them into the ground," said Jeff Kightlinger, general manager of Metropolitan Water District, which serves almost 19 million people in
The agency has been tapping those reserves, such as
An MWD committee on Monday endorsed the water-supply alert despite arguments by Randy Record, a
"We just continue to do outreach, and I don't think that's enough," he said. "It certainly helps, but this is a new ball game."
Kightlinger told reporters during a teleconference Friday that MWD will expand its advertising campaign on the need to save water and ask other cities to follow the lead of
Kightlinger said most of the 170 cities in MWD's service area, including those in western
"We're asking all the rest of the cities to pull out those ordinances," Kightlinger said.
The MWD staff will help the cities bring the ordinances up to date if need be, he added.#
http://www.pe.com/localnews/inland/stories/PE_News_Local_S_drought10.429b701.html
WATER: Agency mulls ending agriculture discount
By BRADLEY J. FIKES - Staff Writer
Metropolitan Water District is scheduled Tuesday to tackle the fate of a discounted water rate for growers in addition to calling for more water conservation.
Southern California's main water wholesaler, Metropolitan supplies water agencies from
Growers who bought discounted water under the Interim Agricultural Water Program have had deliveries cut by 30 percent, something they agreed to in the event of shortages when they signed up. Locally, growers have cut down thousands of citrus and avocado trees to save water.
The cut in water deliveries was supposed to be a rare event, but the water supply outlook has worsened so the cuts are expected to happen repeatedly. So Metropolitan is considering whether to make changes to the program.
The discount program would be studied for six months, and a final recommendation brought back to Metropolitan's board of directors for action in December, under a staff proposal. Alternatives include keeping the program as it is, phasing out the program, changing the pricing structure and eliminating the discounts altogether.
Metropolitan is also expected to move into the second of a three-tier water shortage system.
Under the proposed "water supply alert," Metropolitan will recommend that its member agencies take stronger steps to reduce water use, such as imposing higher rates for heavy water users, restricting hours of outdoor watering and increasing the use of recycled water.#
http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2008/06/09/business/z03394f312781cea08825746300573d1b.txt
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