L.A. Residents Cut Water Use by 13% in August, DWP Says : Conservation: The new figures push back the possibility of rationing at least until October.

Los Angeles residents cut water use by 13% in the critical month of August, forestalling any possibility of water rationing until at least October, a Department of Water and Power official said Tuesday.

“As long as we can keep a high level of compliance during the traditionally warm month of September and then into the fall, mandatory conservation will be avoided,” said James F. Wickser, DWP assistant general manager who announced the latest conservation figures.

The conservation rate in August was of particular concern to city officials because it is traditionally one of the hottest months and has the heaviest water use of the year. City officials also watched the August rate because of disappointing conservation results in July.

City residents had voluntarily conserved an estimated 9.8% of their water in July, missing slightly the 10% conservation goal set by Mayor Tom Bradley and regional water officials. Southern California water officials expect a 10% shortage in water supplies this year, after four years of drought in the region’s primary watershed in the Sierra Nevada and the Colorado River basin.

The low July conservation figure surprised officials as it followed hefty cuts of 17.5% in June, 11.7% in May and 12.3% in April, according to DWP figures that measure declines in consumption from an “expected normal use.” The figures are further adjusted for changes in population and weather.

Actual water use declined by 9.4% in August, compared to cuts of 5.8% in July, 8.4% in June, 9.1% in May and 15.7% in April, according to the DWP figures.

Under a city ordinance adopted in July, mandatory rationing would be implemented if the adjusted conservation figure dips below 10% in August or any subsequent month. The voluntary savings in the spring persuaded the City Council in July to delay implementing mandatory water rationing in favor of continuing the successful voluntary effort.

If triggered, the rationing plan would limit all residents and businesses to 90% of the water consumed in comparable periods of 1986--before the drought and the start of city-sponsored conservation efforts. Residents and business using more than their allotment would face surcharges and fines for excessive water use.

City Councilwoman Joan Milke Flores, who spearheaded the effort to delay mandatory rationing and favor voluntary conservation, said residents should be congratulated for their conservation efforts, but warned that September is also a high-use month.

“We have seen how conservation levels can fluctuate from month to month,” said Flores. “We urge our current water-savers to conserve even more and those who are not actively reducing their consumption to get on the bandwagon and save.”

Bradley, who has sought to implement rationing as the only fair and effective way to conserve water, said Tuesday: “September is generally one of the hottest months of the year, so the need to conserve water is more critical now than ever.”

Bradley and DWP officials credited the successful conservation effort to a series of city-sponsored programs, including $100 rebates on low-flush toilets, a $3-million advertising campaign, a hot line for reporting water wasters and the hiring of two dozen “drought busters” who cruise the city looking for excessive water use.

So far, officials said the drought busters have handed out 4,665 citations for violations of the city’s drought ordinance, which prohibits watering between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m., hosing down driveways and sidewalks and allowing irrigation to flow into the streets.

After a first warning, violators could face fines of $50 to $150. On the fourth violation, violators could have their water shut off.

Jerry McKay, coordinator of the drought busters program, said only 13 residents have been fined so far.