L.A. residents told to cut showers as drought deepens: Driest year since rainfall records began

[DeepModem Mom]

Reuters: L.A. residents told to cut showers as drought deepens
Wed Jun 6, 2007

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Los Angeles residents were urged on Wednesday to take shorter showers, reduce lawn sprinklers and stop throwing trash in toilets in a bid to cut water usage by 10 percent in the driest year on record.

With downtown Los Angeles seeing a record low of 4 inches of rain since July 2006 -- less than a quarter of normal -- and with a hot, dry summer ahead, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said the city needed "to change course and conserve water to steer clear of this perfect storm."

It is the driest year since rainfall records began 130 years ago.

The Eastern Sierra mountains, where Los Angeles gets about half of its water supply, marked its second-lowest snowpack on record this year.

That and the lack of rainfall could force the nation's second largest city into full drought mode in coming months, officials said....

http://www.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUSN0642623620070606?feedType=RSS&rpc=22

[devilgrrl]

1. It's navy shower time...

I'll do my part by turning the water on and off as needed... this is truly frightening.

[Nay]

2. Have the rich people been forced to leave their pools unfilled?

I didn't think so.

[LizW]

3. Alabama, too.

We go on level 3 Drought Alert tomorrow. No watering will be allowed at all, and there will be a 200% surcharge on overuse of water. We don't have a lot of lawn, but my perennial flowering plants are about dead. I'm worried about the trees.

We live in a very wooded area, and could be in a severe fire danger situation by the end of summer.