California town limits water use

LONG BEACH, Calif., Sept. 14 (UPI) -- Long Beach, Calif., officials imposed severe water restrictions to offset the effects of record dry weather and a recent court ruling.

The restrictions, which include a provision barring lawn watering during the day and limiting the act to three times a week, follow a federal court ruling that limits water deliveries to Southern California from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, the Los Angeles Times reported Friday.

"Long Beach is at the forefront of trying to let customers know what's at stake in Southern California," said Bob Muir, spokesman for the Metropolitan Water District, which imports much of the water used in Southern California. "We're facing historically dry times. When it comes to water, we don't know what we're going to get."

The new rules also ban residents from using water hoses to clean driveways, patios, sidewalks or other hard surfaces unless a pressurized water device is used.

Los Angeles officials said the city may follow in the footsteps of Long Beach if the water situation does not improve.

"Because water has been plentiful, with that came a certain degree of comfort and complacency," said David Nahai, president of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power board. "We have to jolt Angelenos out of that kind of mind-set. If things don't turn out favorably, we may return to (drought) protocols."