Water Conservation

California did it. This month, the Legislature passed a package of bills that includes a statewide urban water conservation goal of 20% by 2020. We have confronted the kind of conservation that will be needed to secure the water supply of Los Angeles, and the state, in the face of population growth and climate change. Or have we? FOR THE RECORD: Population: A Nov. 22 Op-Ed article on water conservation stated that the population in Southern California is expected to grow as much as 43% by 2020.

The state Legislature finished with one piece of a multi-part water package Tuesday when the Assembly approved a bill mandating a statewide drop in per capita water use. Lawmakers were headed for another long night, with the Assembly expected to take up several other measures approved by the Senate in a midnight session Monday, including a massive water bond. "We are comfortable and confident that we will wrap up and we will have the votes," Assembly Speaker Karen Bass (D-Los Angeles)

Negotiators are on the brink of achieving the most comprehensive California water legislation in half a century. They're also in danger of an embarrassing belly flop. Both sides -- whether talking about Democrats vs. Republicans, environmentalists vs. farmers, cities vs. burgs -- have attained their top priorities, realizing gains that seemed almost impossible just 18 months ago. GOP lawmakers and San Joaquin Valley growers have secured a pathway leading to probable construction of a long-controversial canal to carry fresh Sacramento River water around the fragile, brackish delta and directly into an aqueduct heading south.

State legislative leaders remained stalemated Saturday over proposals to improve California's water supply, leaving little more than 24 hours to strike a deal that would convince Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger not to carry out his threat to veto many of the 704 unrelated bills on his desk. Democratic and Republican leaders emerged from a three-hour meeting with the governor and acknowledged that they remain divided on issues including the size of a water bond measure, protections for existing water rights and proposals to force water conservation.

After nearly two years of fending off criticism from ratepayers and his own employees, H. David Nahai stepped down Friday as head of the nation's largest municipally owned utility, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power. Nahai, 56, said in a letter to Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa that he would leave immediately to take a position as an advisor to former President Clinton's climate initiative to battle global warming. But well before he announced his new job, the Iranian-born environmentalist and attorney found himself under fire on several fronts.

It was just after 9 a.m. when William Mims got busted in a Hancock Park driveway. Slowly, he set down the gushing hose, which lacked an automatic shut-off nozzle, stepped away from the gray BMW he was washing and put his hands up. "Hey, man, I confess. I confess. I was using just the hose" he told Kevin Cato, a Department of Water and Power water conservation officer. "I won't do it again." Since June 1, Cato and about a dozen other workers -- water cops, as some residents call them -- have been on the prowl in search of lawn-loving Angelenos who don't know or don't heed the city's tightened water restrictions.

As California struggles with drought, gardening and conservation specialists will gather today for the nation's first National Public Gardens Day to raise awareness of the importance of plant and water conservation. More than 500 public gardens across the nation will join in the celebration and host speakers who will discuss means of maintaining beautiful landscapes while still complying with water restrictions. In Los Angeles, National Public Gardens Day events will take place at Descanso Gardens, the Huntington Library and the Los Angeles Arboretum between 9 a.m. and 7 p.m. "There's more emphasis on people taking care of their home gardens and [growing]

It's official. Water rationing, Phase 3 of Los Angeles' water conservation ordinance, is set to go into effect June 1. What does that mean, particularly for the rising number of victory gardeners these days? Sprinkler usage will be restricted to Mondays and Thursdays. Gardeners can use low-flow drip irrigation any day as long as it emits no more than two gallons per hour, and they can water plants by hand, but only before 9 a.m. or after 4 p.m.

The Los Angeles City Council on Tuesday approved new water conservation measures that will restrict the use of lawn sprinkler systems to Mondays and Thursdays for all Department of Water and Power customers. We asked DWP officials how the new rules will work. -- Does this mean I can only water my garden on Mondays and Thursdays? No. Only automatic sprinkler systems are restricted. Hand watering using garden hoses fitted with shut-off nozzle devices is allowed any day but not between 9 a.m.