Beverly Hills Residents Cleared For Outdoor Water Use After Repairs

BEVERLY HILLS, CA — Authorities finished a massive emergency pipeline repair affecting cities across Los Angeles nearly two days ahead of schedule, meaning residents can resume regular water use.

The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California completed repairs on a leak on a 36-mile pipeline, described as a primary conduit for about 4 million people, and that was supposed to take 15 days to complete when it started Sept. 6. The district asked residents in over 80 cities and neighborhoods — including Beverly Hills — to completely eliminate outdoor water use for the duration of the construction.

“In response to the conservation call, Metropolitan estimates residents and businesses in the affected areas reduced water demands by about 30 percent during the shutdown,” the district said in a news release Monday.

The MWD made a temporary repair to the leak in the pipeline earlier this year, and began operating the pipeline at a reduced capacity. The MWD scheduled the shutdown to install a longer-term fix to the pipeline to avoid a possible critical failure to the water supply.

"We know it wasn't easy to heed our no-outdoor-watering call, particularly during the extreme heat wave the region experienced early in the shutdown, but Southern Californians stepped up their water-saving efforts again, as they have in the past, to help us through this critical shutdown,” Metropolitan Chairwoman Gloria D. Gray said in a statement.

While water use can resume as normal in the affected regions, the county continues to see extreme drought conditions and strict watering restrictions throughout. The district reminded to continue water usage “with conservation clearly in mind.”

Beverly Hills residents are on a 2-day-per-week outdoor watering schedule, with residents north of Santa Monica Boulevard watering Mondays and Fridays and residents south of Santa Monica Boulevard watering on Tuesdays and Saturdays.

All residents are restricted from watering between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m. daily with penalties for any violations. The city's goal is a 30 percent reduction in local water use, according to the city's website.

City News Service contributed to this report.