County Sups Declare Water Shortage in Malibu Service Area

County Sups Declare Water Shortage in Malibu Service Area

BY ANNE SOBLE

All the talk about drought in California and the need to conserve one of the state’s most problematic and legally entangled resources hit closer to home on Tuesday when the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors declared a water shortage emergency in Malibu and the other communities served by Waterworks District 29.
The declaration includes the requirement that residential water users cut their water consumption by 15 percent or face higher water rates.
District 29 is under the auspices of the L.A. County Department of Public Works. Customers will be sent the specifics of the cutback and the base on which reductions are to be determined with their next billing statement.
The prospect of greater surcharges for water users that exceed the average amounts for their parcel sizes has also been discussed but there have been no moves to implement additional charges on mega water wasters in the latest declaration.