Water Rationing in LA

Los Angeles Department of Water and Power recently announced the implementation of water rationing for it's customers. This is not unprecedented as Los Angeles has a long history of water scarcity, but it did spark my interest in where our water comes from.

ORANGE COUNTY

In Orange County, about half of our water comes from Northern California through the State Water Project and from the Colorado River. The other half comes from a groundwater basin in northern Orange County and from processed waste water (NY Times article about OC water recycling). Orange County Water District (OCWD) manages the groundwater basin. The Municipal Water District of Orange County (MWDOC) manages our imported water supply.

http://www.mwdoc.com/Water_Supplies.htm

The groundwater basin is fed by local rainfall. Here is a map of local rainfall and historical rainfall records.

http://www.ocwatershed.com/envres/Rainfall/rainfalldata.asp

This is a water supply schematic for Orange County

http://www.mwdoc.com/documents/WaterSupplySchematic07-08.pdf

Pie chart of water usage in OC.

http://www.mwdoc.com/documents/HowWaterisUsedinO.C..pdf

The Huntington Beach city council recently approved the construction of a desalinization plant. It needs more approvals before it is a done deal and in a state like California, it may be a tough battle.
http://www.hbfreshwater.com/
http://www.surfermag.com/features/oneworld/desalination/
http://www.ocregister.com/ocregister/homepage/abox/article_1020891.php
http://www.ocregister.com/ocregister/homepage/abox/article_1022325.php


LOS ANGELES

Los Angeles' water is managed by the LA Department of Water and Power (LADWP), the largest public utility in the united states. LA also splits it's water supply between local and imported water, but in Los Angeles imported sources make up 85 percent of the water supply. These supplies are delivered by the Los Angeles Aqueduct, the California Aqueduct, and the Colorado River Aqueduct.

Local water supplies are from ground water and stormwater capture. Los Angeles is not currently recycling waste water into the general water supply like OC is, but they do have some irrigation and commercial recycling programs.

Los Angeles is also considering a desalinization plant.

Los Angeles County has a very colorful water history as examined in these articles

http://www.ladpw.org/wrd/precip/alert_rain/index.cfm?cont=season.cfm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Los_Angeles_Department_of_Water_and_Power
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_Water_Wars
http://wsoweb.ladwp.com/Aqueduct/historyoflaa/index.htm
http://www.ladwp.com/ladwp/homepage.jsp
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Owens_Lake

http://www.inyowater.org/Annual_Reports/Default.htm
http://www.inyowater.org/Water_Resources/water_agreement/default.html