Supervisors Suggest Reviving Voluntary Water Restrictions : Drought: County officials consider conservation measures after the state government warns that California’s reserve is reaching perilously low levels.

With California in the grip of a dire and possibly unending water shortage, some Orange County Supervisors said Tuesday that they favor legislation calling for 10% voluntary reductions in water use by county residents.

The county, which has few ways of directly influencing water consumption, enacted voluntary restrictions in August, 1988, and Supervisor Harriett M. Wieder said she believed the time was right to resurrect the proposal.

“I think we have to take it off the shelf and dust it off,” the supervisor said, adding that she has instructed the county’s Environmental Management Agency to prepare a resolution to implement the cutbacks. “We are approaching a crisis.”

Orange County has underground water reserves that help protect it against the immediate effects of California’s drought, but state and local officials said they are worried about long-term consequences if the rainfall deficit continues.

Supervisors eagerly backed the voluntary conservation measure Tuesday, and also expressed support for a proposal by Supervisor Don R. Roth to ask restaurants to post notices informing patrons that water will only be given to those who ask for it. Not serving water to every restaurant customer saves both the drinking water and the water needed to wash glasses, the supervisor noted.

The rush Tuesday to consider water conservation measures came in response to warnings by state officials that California water supplies are reaching perilously low levels after four years of sustained drought.

“I’m here today to encourage the Board of Supervisors with all due haste to take whatever measures are necessary to mitigate the water shortage,” Ed Thornhill, water conservation manager for the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, told the supervisors. “Should this drought continue, we anticipate severe urban shortages next year.”

Orange County, which sits atop a large underground lake, has fared better than most areas of the state, but supervisors said the county needs to play its part in helping reduce the demand for water.

“That lake gives us some comfort, but you have to worry about the long term,” Supervisor Thomas F. Riley said.

Even if formally adopted by the board, Tuesday’s proposals probably would not dramatically reduce the county’s overall demand, officials conceded. And although Thornhill applauded the proposed actions, they also illustrate the limits of the county’s power when it comes to controlling consumption.

All water in Orange County is under the control of municipal and regional authorities that stand apart from county government.

“We can suggest things. We can recommend, but we can’t order,” County Administrative Officer Ernie Schneider said after the meeting. “There’s just so much we can do.”

Thornhill called the proposed voluntary actions “an important step to getting the message out.” More drastic water controls, if they are needed, will have to come from cities and local water districts, he said.

George Britton, the county environmental agency’s acting manager of advanced planning, said members of the intergovernmental Water Conservation Task Force are meeting to sketch out water conservation proposals, which will include the suggestion for a 10% voluntary reduction. The task force intends to report back to the board with its recommendations sometime in May, he added, but the supervisors will proceed with a vote on the restrictions next week.