upr000270 235

LOS ANGELES T H'ES P U B L I S H E D : Southland Prepares for Water Shortage Some Areas Drafting Laws to Curb Usage in Low Supply Season The water shortage season is here again for several Southland communities; Residents o f Arcadia w ill be asked to restrict watering of lawns under an emergency ordinance ordered drafted by city officials. m Consumers in the L a Crescents Valley have appealed'to the city of Glendale for emergency water supplies; A n d the Santa Barbara City W ater Commission has asked all residents - to reduce water consumption by 10% in an effort to avoid a mandatory rationing program. As the situation approaches the critical .stage in these areas, the County Flood Control office reports that underground water tables throughout the coastal basin remain far below normal as the result of six consecutive years of subnormal rainfall. Canse for Concern All this is cause for some con­cern, according to Finley La v erty, chief hydraulic engineer for the . County Flood Control office. B ut he doesn’t advise everyone to stop watering their lawns and ’start storing future water supplies in tin cans and teacups. Where rationing measures are contemplated, Laverty says, the cause is lack of facilities rather than an actual lack o f water. Usually it’s a case of pumping equipment and pipe lines failing to keep up w ith a fast-growing community. Need for Facilities F o r example, there is ample water in the m ain San- Gabriel basin to supply all of Arcadia’s needs; according te-Laver ty.- The City Council has opened bids for construction of additional pipe lines and pumps to bring each Arcadia consumer his full Share. These facilities w ill not be completed until September or October, however. U n til then Arcadia residents w ill be per­mitted to water their lawns-only between the hours ef 6 and 8 a.m. and 6 and 9 p.m. Crisis in Valley In the L a Crescenta Valley only 33 consumers in one isolated pocket are in immediate danger because the Invale D rive w e ll has nearly ru n dry. Th e Glendale City Council has taken under advisement a request by the Highw ay Highlands W ater Co. for purchase of Glendale water to supply these users on an emergency basis. Th e re.is need, however, for a long-range plan throughout the Valley, which has doubled in population in the last five years vghile' low water tables have not, been replenished. Yoters then* last year turned down a proposal that the area be annexed to Glen­dale. P i p s for D is tric t:' A Water Problems Committee set up by the Mountain, Cre­scents Mutual and H i g h w a y Highlands Water Cos., as,well ad .the La Crescenta Citizens Coun­cil w h ich spearheaded the opposi­tion to annexation, are hopeful of establishing a water district w ith other foothill communities which eventually, would apply for membership in the Metropolis tan Water D is tric t ’ - , Colorado River water supplied by the latter already has come-to the rescue of west basin com* munities, south and east of Inglewood, where the low water table situation was further corn-plicated by the encroachment of, sea water. ; ” ? Santa Barbara officials are considering the feasibility of arti­ficial rain-making to Solve them problem. There again existing facilities have been, strained by population increases. Residents : are being warned that .they must irrigate sparsely, wash cars from a pail instead of a hose and sweep ’ driveways rather than w ash them if ration­ing is to be avoided. Bain W ould Help Although such strict measures are not foreseen for the South* land generally in the immediate future, low water tables and ex- j panding communities combine tb •create a serious problem for-those charged w ith supplying the vital commodity. --7 . Laverty estimates that the main coastal basin is being over­drawn b y some 40,000 acre-feet annually above its safe yield; Grountl water basins are deep and pumping becomes increas­ingly more costly. B ut all water companies and. users in the basin are cognizant of the shortage, he says, and are constantly searching for new sources and the means of tap­ping them. Th e proposed inclu­sion of the L a Crescenta Valley., in the Metropolitan W ater Dis­trict is an example of such long? range planning, , ; 7 A few years of normal rainfall would help, too, he says. -