LA County Supes Propose Higher Fines For Water Wasters
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — Los Angeles County officials Tuesday introduced a proposed ordinance that would increase fines for wasting water.
The Board of Supervisors' ordinance would increase fines for violating water conservation requirements from $100 up to $500 per day. Written warnings for violations would be issued on the first offense, but fines would apply for every day of violation after that warning.
The vote comes on the heels of a warning from the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California (MWD) that mandatory water rationing measures may be needed as the region prepares for a potential fourth straight year of drought.
Supervisor Don Knabe told KNX 1070 NEWSRADIO a recent spate of rain in the Southland may have caused some people to forget about the state's water crisis.
"Everybody sees a little bit of rain here, a little drizzle here, and they think, you know, 'Hey, we had that good hit there', that we're in the best of shape, and we're not," Knabe said. "We're still in a very significant drought."
The region's reserves currently stand at about 1.2 million acre-feet, less than half of what the MWD held in storage at the end of 2012.
An acre-foot of water is nearly 326,000 gallons, about the amount used by two typical Southland households in a year.
The Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to place the measure on a future agenda for adoption.
The Metropolitan Water District will decide in April if rationing will happen. The last cutback occurred in 2009.
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