The Region : Reduced Consumption of Water Urged

Southern Californians, who have been using record amounts of water recently, have been asked to reduce their consumption because supplies are below normal in some reservoirs. Carol Baronkay, general manager of the Metropolitan Water District, said in a statement that Southern California is not suffering the drought conditions that are hitting Eastern cities and has sufficient water stored for to last the rest of this year. But, he said, “if next winter is unusually dry, Southern California again could be in the grips of a serious drought.” During the recent weeks of record-breaking heat, the district’s previous record for a single day’s consumption, set in 1981, has been broken 16 times, Baronkay said. The district supplies about half the water used by 13 million people in Los Angeles, Ventura, Orange, San Bernardino, Riverside and San Diego counties.