Los Angeles County Metropolitan Water District

The Metropolitan Water District board Tuesday approved a much-disputed drought plan despite protests from officials in some southeastern Los Angeles County cities who complained that low-income residents would be penalized with higher rates. Using a weighted voting system that is keyed to property valuation and not population, the 37-member board voted 176,523 to 14,265 to support the plan.

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.

A remnant of Los Angeles' historic Zanja Madre water-supply system unearthed this week near Chinatown will be covered over and permanently entombed, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority said Wednesday. MTA officials accepted responsibility for the accidental unearthing of a portion of the brick-lined "Mother Ditch" at the Cornfield, a onetime rail yard that is scheduled to be used for a 32-acre corn-growing/art project this summer.