LOS ANGELES, California, February 9, 2009 (ENS) -

There is 70 percent chance of rain in Los Angeles today, which would bring some relief to the parched area. Even so, the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California is asking that residents find ways to reduce water use at home.

To help people understand how dry the area really is, the utility has unveiled a new Internet tool to track Southland water reserve levels.

Metropolitan General Manager Jeffrey Kightlinger said the new tool's debut in January on the district's website, www.mwdh2o.com, helps illustrate the importance and continued need for increased conservation and regional partnerships to help achieve greater water savings. He says wise water use must be a permanent part of everyday life.

"The possibility of mandatory water cutbacks and rationing is quite real should voluntary water-saving efforts not prove enough," Kightlinger said. "We believe that, given the right information and tools, consumers and businesses will respond by taking additional steps to reduce water use. This new tracking gauge for Southland water reserves is one way to help keep our customers and the general public informed."

The gauge, designed to look like an automotive fuel gauge with measurements from full to empty, tracks current reserve levels in the region's surface water and groundwater storage accounts.

Metropolitan's main sources of imported supplies are shrinking due to the statewide drought, record dry conditions for eight of the last nine years along the Colorado River, and court-ordered environmental restrictions in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.

Xeriscape garden with California native plants conserves water. (Photo by Janet Stillman)

"Metropolitan is on track to draw as much as one-third of the region's remaining critical reserves stored in reservoirs and groundwater basins to meet needs this year," Kightlinger said. "At this rate, we could deplete our stored reserves in two years."

In Orange County, a grant program funded by the Metropolitan Water District is helping households find ways to reduce their water consumption at home, while developing methods to also cut down on the amount of water runoff that flows into gutters and down to the ocean.

The Low Impact Development Retrofit program, offered through the nonprofit Orange County Coastkeeper, networks interested homeowners with design and installation professionals.

Homeowners make their own choices based on recommendations from the professionals and implement those they like, while Coastkeeper monitors the runoff and water use at each site. At the end of project, data collected will be submitted to the water district.

Ron May of Laguna Niguel, a green builder involved with the U.S. Green Building Council, is involved in the program. "As a longtime surfer, water is a real passion for me. As a contractor, I often leave early in the morning for work, and see the floods coming down the street from people over-watering their lawns," he said.

May installed weather-sensitive irrigation devices and a system of gutters and infiltration system with a stream bed and desert and coastal landscape zones on his property.

Another participant, Curtis Buck of Fullerton, is an actor whose 1925 home, in the midst of restoration, was hit by fire. Now, Buck is rebuilding with an eye on historical integrity, alternative energy sources and low-water consumption.

His project involves capturing water from three sources and diverting it into above ground tanks and subsurface cisterns that will operate on gravity or solar-powered pumps. The stored water will be used to irrigate his California native landscaping, vegetable garden, fruits and berries.

The Low Impact Development Retrofit program began last year and will continue through spring of 2009. To date, 12 homeowners are participating.

"We want to get this word out to everybody," said project manager Ray Hiemstra. "We really hope to find people who want to go overboard on this. Everybody's home and everybody's property is different. The more people who participate, and the more projects they take on, the better our findings will be."

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