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By 2030, the population of Los Angeles is expected to increase by 500,000 people, pushing up water demand in the City by 100,000 acre-feet per year, or 15 percent.
To meet growing demand in the face of persistent drought, Mayor Villaraigosa has laid out a long-term strategy over the next 20 years with aggressive conservation and an unprecedented water recycling program.
The Mayor’s water plan – “Securing LA’s Water Supply” – calls for meeting half of the new water demand by 2030 through conservation. The plan calls for the first real enforcement of City water restrictions since the early 1990s, penalizing to residents who water lawns during prohibited hours and restaurants that serve water to customers who have not requested it.
On the technology side, the focus shifts from promoting efficient indoor plumbing to the outdoors, where Angeleno families use 30-40 percent of their water. Laying out a series of incentives for businesses and families to reduce water use, the plan introduces a new program to distribute free “smart sprinklers” to every home in Los Angeles.
The remaining 50 percent of water demand will be met by the City’s first wide-scale plan for water recycling. Raising the amount of water it purifies for recycling by six-fold by 2019, LADWP will expand its existing “purple pipe” system (distributing water for irrigation and industrial uses) and will further develop a “groundwater replenishment” water-recycling program.
The San Fernando Groundwater Basin is the City’s primary local water source, providing approximately 11 percent of the total water supply. However, the Basin is experiencing a decline in groundwater levels that threaten its long-term sustainability.
As more and more pavement covers the Earth, urbanization decreases the amount of open land that provides natural groundwater recharge.
To address this situation, LADWP is moving forward with several stormwater capture projects with the goal of increasing long-term groundwater recharge by a minimum of 20,000 acre-feet per year.
While local groundwater has historically provided Los Angeles with a high-quality, reliable water supply, existing groundwater contamination in the San Fernando Basin has impacted LADWP’s ability to fully utilize this valuable resource.
To date, nearly 50 percent of LADWP’s production wells in the San Fernando Basin have been removed from service due to contamination issues, with more expected to be taken out of service.
Cleaning up the San Fernando Groundwater Basin is a massive undertaking that will transform one of the City’s key water sources and ensure that the Basin remains a consistent, stable and reliable resource for years to come.
Recognizing the urgency and importance of this work, LADWP is working to secure additional funding to expedite the San Fernando Basin groundwater clean-up while working to hold the polluters accountable.