Water Use Declines 22% on ‘Conservation Day’ : Drought: L.A. council member says figure shows that city doesn’t need mandatory cuts. But mayor counters that a one-day effort after a storm isn’t enough.

Water consumption in Los Angeles dropped by 22% compared to last year during this week’s “Water Conservation Day,” demonstrating what one council member characterized Friday as a willingness by residents to save water without mandatory rationing.

Kicking off the daylong conservation effort Thursday, Councilwoman Joan Milke Flores suggested that the city’s water users “send a message” to the City Council by saving water and thereby bolster her efforts to keep conservation efforts voluntary.

“Based on (the) results, I believe that Los Angeles residents have demonstrated their willingness to conserve,” Flores said.

According to the Department of Water and Power, overall water consumption dropped by 153 million gallons--or 22%--Thursday, compared to the last Thursday of May, 1989.

But water use climbed by 24 million gallons, or 4%, from this Wednesday to Thursday, something that Flores’ spokeswoman Karen Constine attributed to “average daily fluctuations.”

In any case, Flores conceded that a storm earlier in the week helped cut water consumption by reducing the need for outdoor watering. Also, records show temperatures were an average six degrees lower Thursday than a year earlier.

If the mandatory rationing program proposed by Mayor Tom Bradley is approved, a 10% reduction will be required from 1986 levels.

Bradley said that despite the drop in water use Thursday, a mandatory program is needed because consumers would “revert to old habits” without daily media attention surrounding events such as “Water Conservation Day.”

“It’s ludicrous to make a decision about the future of the city and the supply of our water based on statistics from one day--particularly when that day was unseasonably cool, and front lawns throughout Los Angeles were still damp from an unusual late-May rainstorm,” he said.

On Tuesday, the council’s Commerce, Energy and Natural Resources Committee, which Flores chairs, gave conditional approval to the mayor’s plan and sent it to the full council for a hearing June 15.

Flores said she would ask the council to hold off imposing the mandatory program if forthcoming statistics from the DWP show water users have cut consumption by 7% or more during the current 2-year-old voluntary program.

Flores, meanwhile, has asked the city administrative office to conduct a study to determine if the 9% rate hike that is set to take effect if the rationing program were approved is needed to offset increased costs.