Water San Diego County

Steve White trudged sadly through the avocado grove he planted near here almost 15 years ago and heard a rasping crow overhead, an irritating speck in the blinding afternoon sky. "They only circle over a dead animal," White said, setting his jaw. "Maybe they sense death here." There is death here, whole orchards of it. Thousands of trees are sagging helplessly, their leaves wilted and leathery, their branches limp.

The Metropolitan Water District disclosed Thursday that it will assess nearly $11 million in penalties against Southern California cities and water districts that failed to significantly reduce water consumption during February. Officials for the water wholesaler also released a list identifying which agencies complied and which fell short of MWD's 17% conservation goal for the month.

In a matter of weeks, this historic gold-mining town will usher in something few of its 1,300 residents seem to want: Fast food. And it will come, it appears, in exchange for something the town desperately needs: Water. Before long, two new franchises, Dairy Queen and Subway Sandwiches, will open in Julian, an apple-growing center nestled in the Cuyamaca Mountains about 65 miles northeast of San Diego.

Below are water consumption figures for the 24 areas in the Metropolitan Water Districts service area from May through December of 1989 and 1990. Measured in acre-feet of water.* AGENCY 1989 1990 % Change LOS ANGELES COUNTY Beverly Hills 10,836 10,227 -5.6 Burbank 16,941 15,771 -6.9 Glendale 23,394 22,267 -4.8 Las Virgenes 16,259 15,584 -4.1 Long Beach 54,866 52,572 -4.2 Los Angeles 507,834 474,456 -6.6 Pasadena 29,187 27,459 -5.9 Santa Monica** 9,217 8,482 -8.

Orange County will be expanding home water demands on a much smaller scale than four or five other urbanized counties in Southern California. Between 1990 and the year 2010, projected residential water needs will increase 28%. Only Los Angeles County, with a 13% projected jump, will require a smaller increase.

In mid-March, when the State Water Project all but stops pumping water to Southern California, no city in the region stands to lose more than this one. Stiff statewide cutbacks announced by Gov. Pete Wilson on Monday will effectively cut off state water deliveries to the Metropolitan Water District, the region's wholesaler, whose largest and most dependent customer is the San Diego County Water Authority.

After months of deadlock and recrimination, water officials from San Diego County and the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California are close to striking a deal that could shape the water future of California, the state water director told legislators Monday.

Federal environmental officials are objecting strongly to the proposed issuance of a permit for Pamo Dam, claiming that the San Diego region can meet its emergency water needs through construction of an alternate project that inflicts far less damage on the environment. In a lengthy report to be sent to the Army Corps of Engineers this week, U.S.

A plan to have Imperial Valley farmers fallow their crops in order to send water to San Diego County apparently has attracted enough takers to set the project in motion next month. The Imperial Irrigation District won't know exactly how many proposals from farmers it has received until next week. Spokeswoman Susan Giller said early estimates show enough farmers have signed on to implement the 13-month emergency fallowing program on Dec. 1. The program is a key part of a deal forged by Southern California water agencies to reduce the state's historic overuse of the Colorado River.

A judge has rejected a bid by the San Diego County water board to invalidate a regulation that could give the city of Los Angeles the right to take half of San Diego's water during a drought. Without comment, San Francisco Superior Court Judge James J. McBride agreed with the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California that the drought formula that spells out "preferential rights" for MWD members is clearly defined in the 1931 law that created the regional water wholesaler.