U.S. Water News Online
LOS ANGELES -- The giant Southern California water agency that serves 18 million people in six counties is stepping up a conservation campaign to cope with a drought that has thinned supplies in the Sierra Nevada and Colorado River.
The Metropolitan Water District will spend $6.3 million to expand its "Let's Save" campaign.
"There's a real urgency. We can't wait anymore, we really need to be proactive," said Randy Record, a San Jacinto farmer and district board member representing Perris-based Eastern Municipal Water District.
The yearlong campaign will call for voluntary water conservation, promote rebates and educate the public about the uncertainties of future supplies from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.
No supply shortages are projected for this year, district board chairman Timothy F. Brick said in a statement.
However, the record dry year in Southern California, combined with a severe, eight-year drought on the Colorado River and the state's recent decision to severely limit delta exports, "challenges us to do more with less," Brick said.
The California Department of Water Resources recently turned off the pumps at the delta because pools of a federally protected fish are being sucked into the massive system and killed.
The pumps were turned back on recently for limited pumping to Northern California counties that were hard hit by the move.
The state is waiting for the smelt to migrate away from the pumps before turning them back on at full speed, department spokeswoman Sue Sims said.
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