Declaration of Imminent Water Supply Shortage

The Long Beach Board of Water Commissioners today officially declared that a water supply shortage for the City of Long Beach is imminent, at a meeting held at the Long Beach Water Department’s Groundwater Treatment Facility. In making the Declaration, the Board of Water Commissioners has activated the Long Beach Water Department’s Emergency Water Supply Shortage Plan, implementing additional water use prohibitions throughout the City of Long Beach. The Declaration is a proactive measure taken to forestall or lessen the impact of an expected water supply shortage.

The Declaration of an Imminent Water Supply Shortage is necessitated by the profound impact of a U.S. District Court’s August 31st federal Endangered Species Act ruling; the dramatic, recent reductions in water storage levels in key reservoirs in northern California; this year’s record low rainfall in the southern California coastal plain; and a continuation of the historic 8-year drought in the Colorado River Watershed, which is a significant source of imported water for southern California. Nearly half of the City’s water supply is imported. The City of Long Beach has been under a Declaration of Immediate and Extraordinary Water Conservation since June 14th.

Read the Board’s media release and list of use prohibitions, HERE (http://www.lbwater.org/pdf/PressReleases/09-13-07PR.pdf)