Huge Rebates for Water Conservation Approved

The Metropolitan Water District on Tuesday approved a plan to pay millions of dollars in rebates to water agencies that get customers to cut use by more than 5% this summer.

The plan, approved without comment by the Board of Directors, would rebate $100 for every acre-foot of water that local agencies conserve between June 1 and Sept. 30. The program would bring an estimated $10 million to the 27 Southern California water agencies served by the Los Angeles-based agency. An acre-foot is enough water to cover an acre to a depth of one foot, or 326,000 gallons--roughly the amount of water used by two families in a year.

The money could be passed along to retail customers as rewards, pay for conservation programs, or could be used to offset lower sales by local water agencies, officials said.