Concerned about future supplies, the Metropolitan Water District announced Monday that it would cut shipments to Southern California agriculture by 30% and that customers would eventually pay higher rates.
The action by the giant water wholesaler, which provides water to 18 million people across Southern California, marks its first step in dealing with upcoming reductions in water supply and the record dry conditions locally.
MWD General Manager Jeffrey Kightlinger said that if the dry weather continues into this winter, local agencies would have to consider mandatory rationing, an extreme measure not seen since the severe drought of the early 1990s.
"People will feel this," he said. "We really want to see if people are willing to conserve absent rationing."
A federal judge this summer issued a ruling that is expected to slash water deliveries from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta by about a third, part of an effort to save the endangered delta smelt.
As a result, the MWD will have to import costlier water through transfers from places such as the Central Valley, ultimately raising customer rates by roughly 10%. That's on top of rate hikes many water agencies had previously planned to make up for infrastructure costs and other expenses.
The MWD already has locked in rates with local water agencies through the end of next year. Though customers might not face rate hikes until 2009, it's also possible some agencies might consider increases more quickly -- potentially to encourage conservation.
"Rates are going to go up," Kightlinger said. "It used to be we only had to go to those expensive [sources] to replace water 25% to 30% of the time. Now we're doing that 70% of the time."
Despite such concerns, Southern California's water situation is still significantly less dire than it was during the last major drought, in 1990-91. The region has seen less than 4 inches of rain this year, and the Sierra snowpack -- a key barometer of water supply -- is down sharply.
But most of the major reservoirs that serve the Southland are full, and the MWD's overall water reserve is several times larger than it was during the last drought.
On Monday, agriculture officials were still assessing how farmers would deal with the cut in water supplies, coming on top of an already bone-dry year.
