Despite rain falling across the Southland Thursday, water officials stressed that the short-lived storm will not resolve the state’s extensive drought and urged people to take advantage of the precipitation by turning off their irrigation systems for the next few days.
“Although Mother Nature is providing California a late-season gift, we’re relying on residents and businesses to continue to pitch in and conserve as much as possible by forgoing watering outdoors over the next week,” said Jeffrey Kightlinger, general manager of the Metropolitan Water District. “We all need to be reminded that the water we save today is water we can call upon to help meet our supply challenges as the drought continues.”
MWD officials said the storm will provide some relief to the dry Sierra Nevada and Rocky Mountain watersheds, but not nearly enough to end the state’s four-year drought.
The district is slashing water deliveries to its member agencies by 15 percent this summer to help meet calls for drastic reductions in water use.
— City News Service