End Pavement

An article in the LA Times this past week ups the ante in the story on Southern California’s dry spell (covered previously here on End Pavement): “L.A. urges conserving water in dry spell”

Los Angeles officials urged residents Wednesday to reduce water consumption by 10% as weather forecasters predicted the region’s historic dry spell will combine with a summer of record-setting temperatures.

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa’s call for conservation — the first water-reduction goal the city has issued in more than a decade — comes as water agencies across Southern California are trying to deal with the driest season on record.

In my post back in March, the Times reported that Downtown had received 2.4 inches of rain since July 1, 2006. Three months later, that total is still less than 4 inches.

Despite things not being as bad as the droughts during the late Eighties when mandatory conservation and other measures were passed,

…this summer is expected to be as hot, if not hotter, than last summer, during which several record-breaking heat waves were blamed for the deaths of more than 100 people across the state.

Mayor Villaraigosa is pushing for voluntary conservation for now.

“Los Angeles needs to change course and conserve water to steer clear of this perfect storm,” Villaraigosa said. “The combination of record-low rainfall, the second-lowest snowpack ever recorded and a potentially very hot summer is a perfect storm that could put Los Angeles into a drought.”