L.A.'s water savings are just a drop in the bucket - Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa asked for a 10% reduction in June, but usage has remained nearly flat since then.

Despite the mayor's June 6 plea for a 10% reduction, water use in the city remained largely flat through October, compared with the same period last year, according to records from the city Department of Water and Power.

Now some environmentalists want the mayor to go further and endorse mandatory restrictions, such as those that have reaped significant water savings this fall in Long Beach. Area environmental leaders who met privately with Villaraigosa on Tuesday said they asked him to declare a state of drought and impose restrictions -- and that he said he would if science supported it.

"More than anything, I want a commitment from the mayor to work toward a more sustainable future and to reduce water use in Los Angeles," said Miriam Torres of the Environmental Justice Coalition for Water, who was among those at the meeting. "People in Los Angeles have to think of water as a precious resource and not a commodity."

The mayor's office confirmed last week that the conversation occurred but did not have details of what kind of scientific evidence the mayor had in mind.

City water officials said Friday that they planned to wait several more months to see if water supplies improve before resorting to harsher measures. Water use since June may be down as much as 3% from a year ago once November reports are counted, but final statistics were not available as of late Friday afternoon, said DWP spokesman Joseph Ramallo.

Cities throughout Southern California are urging conservation this year amid gloomy reports of a long-running drought in the Colorado River Basin and a near-record-low snowpack in the Sierra Nevada. A judge's August ruling to protect endangered smelt in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta could further curtail water deliveries from Northern California

Although rains have dampened the Los Angeles Basin several times in the last two weeks, the rainwater will do little for the many local cities that rely heavily on imported water. Los Angeles, for instance, traditionally pipes most of its water from the Eastern Sierra Nevada.

When Villaraigosa called for a 10% cut, he warned that a confluence of weather events--such as a record-dry year and low snowpack -- threatened the city's water supply.