Drought: Outdoor Watering Limited To 3 Days A Week In Manhattan Beach

MANHATTAN BEACH, CA — A drought and water shortage has prompted the city of Manhattan Beach to limit outdoor watering to three days a week, city officials announced Tuesday.

The City declared a Stage 1 Water Shortage on Jan. 18, 2022, following the State of Emergency issued by Gov. Gavin Newsom. The declaration issued Tuesday limits outdoor watering in Manhattan Beach to three days per week. Since the declaration, California has experienced the driest first three months of a year in the state’s recorded history.

“The drought we are experiencing is creating incredible challenges to our water supply," Mayor Hildy Stern said in a statement. “It is incumbent on each of us to take steps to reduce the risks associated with the drought. Collectively, we can work together to reduce our overall water consumption to ensure we don’t enter into an even larger crisis. Please join our efforts to conserve water.”

Over the last three years, water supplies continue to be impacted by the combination of high temperatures and below-average precipitation. Currently, ninety-six percent of the City’s water supply is imported from Northern California and the Colorado River through the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California via West Basin Municipal Water District.

For the first time, a Tier 1 water shortage at Lake Mead has resulted in federal allocation cutbacks to Arizona, Nevada and Mexico. If drought conditions persist and Tier 2 is triggered, California would experience its first allocation cutback from the Colorado River. Furthermore, on March 18, 2022, California water officials announced the reduction of State Water Project water allocations from 15 percent to only 5 percent.

As a result, on March 28, 2022, the governor called on local water suppliers to move to Level 2 of their Water Shortage Contingency Plans, which require various water districts throughout the Golden State to reduce water usage by 20 percent. In response, the City is considering activating Stage 2 of the City’s Water Shortage Contingency Plan, which would further reduce outdoor watering to two days per week. According to Governor Newsom’s Executive Order N-10-21, as much as 50 percent of residential water use goes to outdoor irrigation; and much of that is wasted due to evaporation, wind, or runoff caused by inefficient irrigation methods and systems.

Additionally, the City has already identified several irrigation system leaks through its Water Meter Replacement Program, which replaces current water meters with new, highly accurate meters through a technology known as Advanced Metering Infrastructure. Once fully implemented, residents will have the tools available to regularly monitor their own water usage.

To learn about how much water is used for common daily activities, such as brushing your teeth and taking a shower, and to gather ideas to help conserve water, visit the city's website for water conservation tips and links.