Dealing with CA water shortage, Los Angeles

Jewish Journal/Opinion/Paul Koretz, 5/1/15, "In combating drought, L.A. should follow Isreal's lead."

Structural water shortage... bummer!

As a lifelong environmentalist, I am willing to meet the challenges of California’s drought crisis head-on, and in a responsible manner. As a Jew, I’m very much inspired by the tradition of tikkun olam, which, translated into English, calls on us to “repair the world.”  ....In Israel, more than 80 percent of all municipal sewage is reclaimed and reused — whereas, L.A.’s Hyperion Water Treatment Plant treats and discharges up to 350 million gallons of wastewater into the ocean every day — that’s water we could be using.

....  LADWP’s replace-your-lawn program is booming, thanks to Mayor Garcetti’s Executive Directive No. 5, increasing the rebate to $3.75 per square foot.  .... We need to use rainwater as a first source of irrigation, which has the additional benefits of preventing polluted runoff and reducing flooding.  .... Residents who replace their lawns should remember to water their trees. Tree health is a vital component to climate change resiliency....

We can push the state’s farmers to use targeted drip irrigation, which has made a huge difference in Israel.  .... We can encourage reduced consumption of the most water- and greenhouse gas-intensive food — beef.

Building a local water supply helps us meet Mayor Garcetti’s transformative goal of 50 percent local water by 2035."   Read more.

Article notation:  Los Angeles City Councilmember Paul Koretz represents the 5th Council District in Los Angeles. He is also one of Mayor Eric Garcetti’s appointees to the Metropolitan Water District (MWD) Board.  MWD is a consortium of 26 cities and water districts that provides drinking water to nearly 19 million people in Southern California.

Posted by Kathy Meeh