KTLA

SoCal’s largest water district declares regional drought emergency saying more conservation is needed

An aerial view of the California Aqueduct, near Bakersfield. The aqueduct moves water from Northern California to the state’s drier south. (Mario Tama / Getty Images)

Southern California’s largest urban water district declared a drought emergency on Tuesday and called for local water suppliers to immediately cut the use of water from the State Water Project.

The resolution passed by the board of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California calls on people across the region to step up conservation efforts, but also focuses especially on six water agencies that rely heavily or entirely on the water-starved State Water Project.

Those water agencies, which supply cities in Los Angeles, Ventura and San Bernardino counties, have been instructed to activate additional conservation measures and reduce their usage of water from the State Water Project, which is in an acute shortage after one of the state’s driest years on record.

“We are focusing on getting the message out throughout our service area that people need to ramp up their focus on conservation,” Assistant General Manager Deven Upadhyay said.

Read the full story on LATimes.com.