Los Angeles Department of Water and Power customers used about 20 percent less water in December than November, while snowpack analysis continues to track the driest year on record, the utility announced Tuesday.
“I want to thank Angelenos for responding to our call to conserve water,” Mayor Eric Garcetti said. “It’s critical that we keep conserving as we enter what is shaping up to be a fourth year of serious drought.”
Residential water use was down to 61.5 gallons per day in December.
Data on six remote snow sensors in the Eastern Sierras helps forecast the amount of runoff that will reach the Los Angeles Aqueduct, which has supplied about 34 percent of Los Angeles’ drinking water for the last five years. The Mammoth Pass snowpack water content is tracking at 21 percent of normal.
“While we did get some relief from a couple of storms in December, the 20.9 percent reduction in water use means our customers continue to respond to the drought, shutting off their sprinklers in anticipation of the rains to reduce outdoor water use,” said Marty Adams, the senior assistant general manager of the LADWP Water System.
“We can tell that conservation remains at the forefront of people’s minds.”
A city ordinance limits outdoor watering with sprinklers to three days a week. Customers are urged to re-set sprinkler times, double-check for leaks and consider replacing lawns with drought-tolerant native plants or hardscape.
Garcetti has called for a 20 percent reduction in per capita water use by 2017.
