Manhattan Beach Declares Stage 1 Water Shortage
Jan 24, 2022 01:17PM ● By Jeanne Fratello
The city of Manhattan Beach has declared a Stage 1 water shortage, and has imposed new drought-related restrictions on water use.
The stage 1 water shortage rules - effective immediately - are as follows:
- Landscape irrigation using potable water is limited to no more than 15 minutes per watering zone per watering day.
- Landscape watering with potable water is limited to 3 times per week between:
- 6:00 p.m. on Monday and 9:00 a.m. the following Tuesday;
- 6:00 p.m. on Wednesday and 9:00 a.m. the following Thursday; and
- 6:00 p.m. on Saturday and 9:00 a.m. the following Sunday.
These rules do not apply to any drip irrigation system, irrigation system maintenance, leak
repair or new planting of low water usage plants or if reclaimed water is utilized as permitted by
law.
"The sky is not falling, but we do want to bring awareness to the fact that water is a precious resource and we should be sensible with it," Manhattan Beach Director of Public Works Erick Lee told City Council members last week.
Lee added that city officials see these new restrictions as an opportunity to educate the public. "We’re really looking to just get awareness out to the community, and to let people know it’s important to save water," said Lee.
Meanwhile, the local and regional water districts have launched campaigns to encourage consumers to conserve water, including Be Water Wise and Super-Cali-Frugalistic.
Multi-State Drought Continues
Manhattan Beach gets its water from the Metropolitan Water District (MWD), via the West Basin Water District. The MWD sources water from the Colorado River system and the State Water Project.
However, all water sources have been impacted by ongoing multi-state drought conditions.
Last summer, Lake Mead (which provides water storage in the water storage lower basin of the Colorado River) hit a record low water level at only 35%. In August, the first-ever Colorado River water shortage was declared. And in November, the Metropolitan Water District declared a "Regional Drought Emergency."
In October, California Governor Gavin Newsom extended the drought emergency statewide. Then in December, California's Department of Water Resources announced that agencies should expect a zero percent allocation - meaning water to be allocated for critical health and safety needs only - from the State Water Project in 2022. (In January, the department increased the State Water Project allocation to 15 percent of requested supplies for 2022, due to recent rains.)
Manhattan Beach relies on outside sources for 96% of its water. However, said Lee, through the Peck Reservoir Replacement Project, the city has set a goal of becoming 20% self-sufficient.
The Peck Reservoir Replacement Project (expected to be completed in Spring 2022) aims to bring existing facilities and equipment up to current standards to
help to protect water supply and distribution for
Manhattan Beach residents. The project includes a new state-of-the-art groundwater filtration system that will
increase the use of the city’s local source of drinking water.
