If the DWP is to be believed -- always a risky proposition -- then we know who the worst water waster in town is: The City, of course.
According to today's report from the DWP on the first month of its mandatory water conservation rules, there is an overall reduction in water use of 11 percent compared to June 2008 and 14.4 percent lower than June 2006 when the drought began.
That was a full year before the mayor deigned to call for voluntary conservation and a full year before mandatory measures were imposed -- measures the City Council wants to drill with loopholes for the rich, the poor, the sick, the horsey crowd, corporations with large expanses of lawn and most of all, itself, including the half-acre of grass outside the soon-to-open $500 million yet-to-be-named Police Headquarters.
But I quibble and digress.
The point is nothing was done for two years while the water supply evaporated and the cost of buying water boiled over, a time period during which cities like Long Beach shattering records for conservation.
And then LA imposes Phase 3 restrictions, the most stringent in the whole state, suggesting that the DWP didn't plan for this crisis or is over-reacting to justify enormous rate hikes in the name of the absurd doctrine of "revenue neutrality" so it can keep on giving 6 percent raises to its IBEW work force.
Whatever happened to "shared sacrifice" or has it just become "screw the public" as usual.
But I quibble and digress again.
The point is today's DWP announcement about how we did in conserving water during June so here's the numbers:
Single-Family Residential: -16.8%
Multi-Family Residential: -8.3%
Commercial: -12.7%
Industrial: -3.4%
Governmental: -29.5%
Total Water Usage: -14.4%
You can look at these numbers in different ways.
For instance, you could say the city has done a fantastic job of conserving water, better even than homeowners who have been the only ones to reduce water use by a degree in recent years.
Or you could say that if the city can cut water use by nearly a third in just one month maybe the city has been the No. 1 water waster for years, squandering this precious resource as if we weren't just a town out in the desert somewhere.
Given the fact that homeowners have led the way in water use reduction in recent years and the city has not, it seems to me to be the inescapable conclusion that the city is the problem.
Not to quibble or digress, but isn't it time to check up on DWP General Manager David Nahai who was caught last year with his hose running as one of the biggest water wasters in town. I wonder how he's doing, and if his water meter is working properly.
According to today's report from the DWP on the first month of its mandatory water conservation rules, there is an overall reduction in water use of 11 percent compared to June 2008 and 14.4 percent lower than June 2006 when the drought began.
That was a full year before the mayor deigned to call for voluntary conservation and a full year before mandatory measures were imposed -- measures the City Council wants to drill with loopholes for the rich, the poor, the sick, the horsey crowd, corporations with large expanses of lawn and most of all, itself, including the half-acre of grass outside the soon-to-open $500 million yet-to-be-named Police Headquarters.
But I quibble and digress.
The point is nothing was done for two years while the water supply evaporated and the cost of buying water boiled over, a time period during which cities like Long Beach shattering records for conservation.
And then LA imposes Phase 3 restrictions, the most stringent in the whole state, suggesting that the DWP didn't plan for this crisis or is over-reacting to justify enormous rate hikes in the name of the absurd doctrine of "revenue neutrality" so it can keep on giving 6 percent raises to its IBEW work force.
Whatever happened to "shared sacrifice" or has it just become "screw the public" as usual.
But I quibble and digress again.
The point is today's DWP announcement about how we did in conserving water during June so here's the numbers:
Single-Family Residential: -16.8%
Multi-Family Residential: -8.3%
Commercial: -12.7%
Industrial: -3.4%
Governmental: -29.5%
Total Water Usage: -14.4%
You can look at these numbers in different ways.
For instance, you could say the city has done a fantastic job of conserving water, better even than homeowners who have been the only ones to reduce water use by a degree in recent years.
Or you could say that if the city can cut water use by nearly a third in just one month maybe the city has been the No. 1 water waster for years, squandering this precious resource as if we weren't just a town out in the desert somewhere.
Given the fact that homeowners have led the way in water use reduction in recent years and the city has not, it seems to me to be the inescapable conclusion that the city is the problem.
Not to quibble or digress, but isn't it time to check up on DWP General Manager David Nahai who was caught last year with his hose running as one of the biggest water wasters in town. I wonder how he's doing, and if his water meter is working properly.
Ron Kaye is the former editor of the Los Angeles Daily News where he spent 23 years helping to make the newspaper the voice of the San Fernando Valley and fighting for a city government that serves the people and not special interests.
Twice in recent years, Los Angeles Magazine listed Kaye among the city’s most influential people, specifically in the area of politics. Kaye has been variously described in the media as the “accidental anarchist,” “the Patrick Henry of the San Fernando Valley” and a “passionate populist.” He is now committed to
carrying on his crusade for a greater Los Angeles as an ordinary citizen. Previously, Ron worked at the Los Angeles Herald Examiner,
Associated Press, Cleveland Plain Dealer and The Australian as well as papers
in Fairbanks, Alaska and Yakima, Wash. He also wrote for Newsweek magazine, The Guardian in London and the National Enquirer.
Trutanich/Berger excoriated Jack Weiss publicly and stealthily about his water use - using blogs and websites and twitter. Jack Weiss would be a much better city attorney and now you all can see why. Under Jack there would have been waste millions of gallons of water on hiring new people for the office, and Jack would have paid off Laura's legal fees in a heartbeat. Trutanich is now hiring a bunch of ex-cops for his Use of Water Investigations that will only cost even more money that could be better spent on improving the environment and funding schools and supporting voters rights. Instead there will be a McCarthy witch hunt of water users who are just taking care of running the city. We've already seen how Trutanich threatened to jail members of the Planing Commission because they approved a new digital billboard at the Staples Center, and it won't be long before Trutanich sets his sights on Jack Weiss. I suppose Trutanich will try to stop the city from paying for Jack's water bill as well. That's who we have as our city attorney.
uh-huh, okay. another tactic: trying to take the facts and throw in some nonsense to distract from them. too transparent but NOT the good kind.