Pico Rivera mandates water conservation By Bethania Palma, Markus Staff Writer
PICO RIVERA - In the face of an ongoing drought, the city will be adopting water conservation guidelines in an effort to help prevent rationing, officials said.
Residents are being asked to forego things like spraying down sidewalks and driveways, washing cars with a running hose and watering lawns during daylight hours, officials said.
Cities throughout the state were asked to cut water usage by 20 percent this year under a drought emergency declared by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. Some, like Los Angeles, are discussing rationing.
"This is probably the first step in water conservation," Assistant City Manager Jeff Prang said. "If things continue to get worse, we'll have to take more aggressive steps, which could include water rationing."
Five other cities that are members of the Central Basin Municipal Water District either have or will adopt similar ordinances, officials said.
Residents will not immediately be cited for violating the ordinance, which goes into effect in 30 days, officials said.
But officials could easily put penalties on the table. Residents could eventually be cited by city code enforcers if the water situation worsens, officials said.
"We don't have any enforcement we are recommending, it's more an advisory," said Al Cablay, public works director. "But it does give us the option for later coming back and, depending on how drastic the shortage is, going down that route."
Much of Southern California's water supply has been hit hard by an ongoing rainfall shortage and a court order limiting the amount of water that can be pumped from the California Delta, a major source, to protect an endangered fish.
But Pico Rivera draws its water supply from eight wells within the city, officials said, and there is no looming crisis in sight - yet.
"If we continue with the drought, we have to pump longer and farther down, and it starts to affect us as far as the cost of water," Cablay said.
As groundwater levels decrease, water quality worsens, he said. Two wells have been rendered inactive because low levels caused poor quality.
While many Central Basin-member water agencies rely mostly on groundwater sources, a water district spokeswoman said if the now three-year drought continues, such cities may eventually need to resort to imported water.
"We've really taxed our reserves at this point, and really need a lot more rain to get us back to where we were a few years ago," said Valerie Howard, Central Basin's public affairs manager. "We're not out of the woods yet, and conservation is more important for that reason." | 
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