Facing the "new reality" of extreme drought conditions caused by a "changing climate," Southern California officials are demanding businesses and residents in parts of Los Angeles, Ventura and San Bernardino counties cut outdoor watering to one day a week.
"This is a crisis. This is unprecedented. We have never done anything like this before and because we haven't seen this situation happen like this before, we don't have enough water to meet normal demands for the six million people living in the State Water Project dependent areas," said Adel Hagekhalil, general manager of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, noting that conservation needs to begin in earnest now since water usage typically increases during the summer months.
Metropolitan is calling on residents in its region to cut their water consumption by 35% to avoid a full ban on watering later in the summer.
This story originally comes from CNN. To read the whole article, click here.
