For the Future of Water Conservation, Look to … Los Angeles?

New York Times

a day ago

Los Angeles was built in a desert.
And it takes a colossal infrastructure to transport water to the city.
But large-scale construction isn't the only way the city has quenched its thirst.
Critic's Notebook
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You've probably come across more stories about water woes in California than you can recall, so you may feel you've had enough for a while.
I understand. There's no easy or permanent fix. The protagonists don't divide neatly into good and evil. Water in the state often isn't where the people are — or, as with the recent fires, isn't there at all. After looking into the subject for years, I still can't wrap my head around the endless ins and outs.
But there is one indisputable fact that keeps surfacing in the conversations I have about California water that feels like something of a beacon. The first time I heard it, it came as quite a surprise.
Over the last half century or so, millions more people have moved to greater Los Angeles, settling in increasingly far-flung reaches of the desert and in the mountains, requiring more faucets, toilets and shower heads, producing more garbage and more gridlock on the 405 freeway, reinforcing all the clichés about excess and sprawl.
And during this same time, Angelenos have been consuming less water.
I don't just mean per person, though that figure, according to state authorities, is down by a whopping 43 percent since 1990. I mean, residents and businesses in the Los Angeles area now consume less water in total. The population has grown, yet the city consumes less water.
How Los Angeles Gets Its Water
CALIFORNIA
Sacramento
River
Sacramento/
San Joaquin
River Delta
Mono
Lake
Owens River
Owens
Lake
CALIFORNIA
AQUEDUCT
LOS ANGELES
AQUEDUCT
COLORADO RIVER
AQUEDUCT
Pacific
Ocean
Los Angeles
Colorado River
100 miles
CALIFORNIA
Sacramento
River
Sacramento/
San Joaquin
River Delta
Mono Lake
Owens River
Owens
Lake
CALIFORNIA
AQUEDUCT
LOS ANGELES
AQUEDUCT
Pacific
Ocean
Los Angeles
Colorado R.
COLORADO RIVER
AQUEDUCT
100 miles
By Barbara Berasi
The L.A. Aqueduct starts at Mono Lake …
… and taps into the snaking Owens River…
… diverting water from Owens Lake, now a toxic moonscape.
The aqueduct crosses deserts …
… and flows into reservoirs …
… and spills down into the city delivering water to millions.
How do you think about water in your community?
You just read our story about water in Los Angeles, but we're curious: How do you think about water where you live? Whether you're dealing with drought, trying to conserve, facing rising costs, trying to use less or just trying to understand it, we want to hear from you.
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