Rationing of Water Likely, Bradley Warns

Facing a fourth year of drought, Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley on Friday vowed to seek mandatory water rationing within 60 days if consumption is not voluntarily reduced by 10% during the next month.

“We’ve got to start today, right now,” Bradley told reporters at a City Hall news conference. “If we do not achieve the level of conservation that we need . . . we’re going to have to move immediately for the mandatory program.”

The mayor’s ultimatum came as the Department of Water and Power released the results of its latest monthly survey of winter snowfall that DWP Assistant General Manager James Wickser said was “regrettably, even worse than we thought.”

The DWP study showed that snowpack in the Eastern Sierra Nevada, the primary source of the city’s main water supply, is just about half of normal. Runoff in the critical April-to-September dry season is projected at just 48% of normal. For the fiscal year running from April, 1990, through March, 1991, water runoff is expected to be no better than 55% of normal.

“We certainly are running out of water . . . very definitely,” said Wickser.

The mayor’s action is the strongest response yet from a large Southern California city to projections that the region’s water supply will fall 12% short of demand this year.

The giant Metropolitan Water District, which provides about 60% of all water consumed in the six-county region, has called on cities to adopt mandatory conservation laws, but has stopped short of asking for immediate rationing.

Carl Boronkay, general manager of the MWD, said Friday he was pleased with the mayor’s call for conservation and the approach of asking for cooperation before mandating behavior. “We’re going to get it done, step by step,” said Boronkay about cutting water demand. “If one step does not work, we’ll keep pushing.”

In a separate development Friday, Los Angeles County Supervisor Kenneth Hahn said that he will propose at Tuesday’s board meeting a mandatory water conservation ordinance that would apply to the 1 million residents of unincorporated parts of the county. The ordinance would include a $500 penalty for water waste such as hosing down of driveways and sidewalks.

Hahn said he wants the county counsel to look into the possibility of imposing a mandatory 10% water cutback.

In addition to urging the public to cut its usage, Bradley asked the president of the Department of Water and Power to report to him within 30 days on the level of conservation. If rationing is deemed necessary to reduce consumption, the mayor said he would then ask the City Council to impose the restrictions.

Two key City Council members--President John Ferraro and Commerce, Energy and Natural Resources Committee Chairwoman Joan Milke Flores--appeared with the mayor on Friday, joining in his call for increased conservation and backing his threat to seek rationing.

“I urge those who live and work in the city of Los Angeles to pay close attention to our message today: don’t waste water, conserve,” Ferraro said.

“If everyone begins conserving water, we can forestall mandatory water curtailment,” Flores said.

Despite the call for voluntary measures, Bradley said it is likely that rationing will be necessary.

“Last year I initiated a voluntary plan for reduction of use of water by 10%. That’s not going to do it,” he said. “Its very likely that within the next 60 days we will have . . . mandatory curtailment of water use.”

What was unclear was just how the mayor plans to measure the public’s response. DWP officials said they were unsure whether consumption would be measured against usage in the comparable month a year ago, or in 1988.

Wickser said that city residents have already cut overall usage by about 4% in the last year. DWP officials said they were unsure if Bradley wanted an additional 10% cut in current usage or a total cut of 10% from historic levels.

Valle Bunting, a spokeswoman in Bradley’s office, said late Friday that the mayor could not be reached immediately for a clarification.

Bradley did say in his letter to DWP President Rick Caruso that “We should make sure that customers who have voluntarily conserved at least 10% consistently during the past two years will not receive unfair treatment” and be asked to conserve still more.

Bradley also directed Caruso to “take more aggressive steps to ensure that everyone gets the message.’

One problem in gauging water usage is some of the biggest water users are city agencies, which do not get individualized bills. And DWP spokesman Ed Friedenberg said Friday that officials do not yet know how much water is consumed by city departments. “We’re working on it,” he said.

Also contributing to this story was Times staff writer Richard Simon.