LOS ANGELES – (INT) - Southern California’s primary water agency will restrict wholesale deliveries to its 26 member public agencies to help save water and stretch available supplies in the fourth year of statewide drought.

Metropolitan Water District’s cutback amounts to a 15 percent reduction in supplies starting July 1 and includes stiff surcharges for member agencies that go over their allocation. Exact numbers for different agencies will vary based on local supply conditions and past water-saving actions.

Tuesday's action by Metropolitan’s Board of Directors comes less than two weeks after Gov. Brown ordered statewide urban water use reductions.

“Southern California has led the way in water conservation for more than 20 years, and now we’re asking people to do significantly more,” said Metropolitan board Chairman Randy Record. “We know it will be difficult, but we’re in an unprecedented drought.”

This is the fourth time the district has restricted imported supplies in response to drought conditions, the last being a 10 percent cutback from July 2009 to April 2011.

Story Date: April 22, 2015