31% Cut Asked in Southland’s Water Supplies : Drought: MWD panel reacts to official’s description of ‘an emergency situation.’ Full board is scheduled to act on recommendation today.

Citing a historic drought emergency, a Metropolitan Water District committee Monday called for a 31% overall reduction in the amount of water the giant utility supplies its 27 member agencies in six Southern California counties.

The Water Problems Committee also unanimously approved a proposal to appropriate $30 million from MWD’s reserve funds to buy water from rice growers and other annual crop growers mostly in the Sacramento and San Joaquin valleys, if available.

While growers face cutbacks in water supplied by state projects, MWD spokesman Bob Muir said some of them may want to sell their allocations from the federally operated Central Valley Project or local sources.

Both recommendations will be considered today by the MWD’s 51-member board.

In proposing a nearly one-third cut, the Water Problems Committee skipped from the third phase to the fifth phase of an approved conservation program. The third phase called for a 10% reduction in home and industry use and 30% in use by agriculture.

“This is an emergency situation,” said Don Adams, MWD director of resources. “We’re at the end of our stages and have begun working with our member agencies to determine where we go from here.”

If approved today by the MWD board, the proposed overall cutback--beginning March 1--would tell MWD member agencies in Los Angeles, Orange, San Diego, Riverside, San Bernardino and Ventura counties to cut their water orders from the current 17% reduction to 31%.

At the consumer level, the reductions would fall into two categories: non-interruptible customers such as homes, businesses and industry, and interruptible customers such as farming and ground water replenishment.

Under the committee proposal, MWD agencies would be expected to reduce orders for homeowners, businesses and industry by 20% of the amount of water used during the same month during fiscal year 1989-90.

The recommendation would require a 50% reduction to agriculture.

The city of Los Angeles is one of the MWD’s largest customers and this year it is relying on the district for 60% of its water supply.

After MWD’s action, Mayor Tom Bradley’s office issued a statement pointing out that the city begins a mandatory 10% reduction March 1 and a 15% reduction May 1.

The mayor added that history has demonstrated that with an ordered 10% reduction, Los Angeles residents actually reduce their water use by 18%.

Bradley expressed hope that residents will respond as they have in the past, but he warned that the city will be ready to impose stronger levels of conservation if necessary.

The MWD conservation proposal calls for financial penalties for member utilities that fail to meet the lower water levels, as well as financial incentives to cut back.

Under the plan, agencies would have to pay triple the cost of water used in excess of the limits. They also would get a 50% rebate on the amount of water saved.

MWD water costs about $197 per acre-foot, or 326,000 gallons.

The district, which gets its water from the State Water Project, Colorado River and other sources, provides more than half the water supply for 15 million Southern Californians.

Times staff writer Jane Fritsch contributed to this story.