Politics & Government
Los Angeles’ Water Supplies Drying Up, Official Warns
Despite recent heavy rains, the idea that the city has lots of water doesn't paint an accurate picture.
Los Angeles' source of water has been cut substantially, and all residences and businesses need to reduce water usage, A DWP official said at a meeting of the Chatsworth Community Coordinating Council on Monday.
Pankaj Parekh, director of Water Quality Division for the Department of Water and Power in Los Angeles, said the city’s water source from the Colorado River has been reduced by 20 percent.
“It’s gone. We are just not getting that water,” Parekh said.
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Parekh also said the city’s water supply has been drastically reduced from the Eastern Sierras and the Delta area in Northern California as other cities and states have increased demand for the same pool of water.
About 10 percent of the city’s water comes from underground sources. The DWP serves 640,000 water customers.
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Parekh said that in the past, 160 gallons of water were consumed by each person on a daily basis. That figure is down to 110 gallons, on average.
Last week, the city launched the program.
Residents capture rainfall in the barrels provided by the city and use it later for watering plants and irrigating gardens or lawns instead of it spilling into the streets and sewers where it eventually flows into the ocean.
Parekh said it’s less expensive for the city to treat its water than to buy it already treated. Los Angeles’ water supply is treated in Sylmar. There is no treatment plant on the east side of the city, so the DWP buys water from other suppliers.
He and other experts are looking to add an ultraviolet filtration element to the Sylmar plant in the near future, upgrading the process and making the city a leader in water treatment techniques.
Parekh said it is a balancing act to treat the water with chemicals and transport it to homes, schools and businesses.
Experts use chlorine and chloramines to kill the germs in the water, which is measured at the beginning and ending of its travels before consumption.
DWP also uses water from the city’s many open lakes, which by federal and state law must be covered, treated or bypassed as a water source. Parekh said water officials are working on protecting the city’s lakes with covers similar to ones used over backyard pools.
Los Angeles has open reservoirs and lakes, which attract birds, plants, algae and other debris. As the city’s population grows and pollution increases, these open lakes present huge challenges for water officials, he said.
