The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors approved a long-term plan for reducing water consumption in Water District 29.
By Knowles Adkisson / The Malibu Times
The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday passed a long-term plan to ensure Malibu’s water needs are met during dry years.
Called the Urban Water Management Plan, its purpose is to plan for future water supply and demand for Malibu, as well as Marina del Rey and unincorporated areas of Water District 29. The plan will now go to the California Department of Water Resources for final approval.
All urban water suppliers in California are required to submit blueprints once every five years as part of the Water Conservation Act of 2009. The act was passed by the state Legislature following three successive years of drought, and requires the state to reduce per capita water use by 20 percent by the year 2020. As part of that goal, water suppliers must cut back water use by 10 percent by the year 2015.
The plan approved Tuesday concludes that there will be “sufficient supply” to meet demand for water should dry years occur between now and 2015. The plan includes a water-shortage contingency plan, projection of future water demands and identification of water supplies to meet projected water demands. It also provides a blueprint for ways to reduce water consumption by 20 percent per capita use by the year 2020, as required by the Water Conservation Act.
Because Malibu does not overlie a groundwater basin capable of supplying adequate amounts of water, the water district currently imports most of its water, according to the plan. Most of that water is imported from the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, a consortium of 26 member agencies comprised of cities and various water districts.
Currently, the district has water storage capacity for approximately three days, according to information included the plan. In the event of a dry year, the plan projects an increase in demand of 4 percent “to account for anticipated increases in irrigation needs.” It states that there “should be enough imported water allocations in reserve to meet any slight increases in demand during a single dry year.” Should the water supplies run out, the district would implement a water conservation plan to cut back consumption of water.