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# California’s New Watering Restrictions Unlikely to Change Anything in LA
March 19 2015
Written by Jenn Stanley.
[](https://www.addtoany.com/share)
VOICES-In preparation for [another dry year](http://nextcity.org/daily/entry/drought-west-california-water-selling), California’s State Water Resources Control Board has [directed urban agencies](http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-state-officials-watering-restrictions-20150317-story.html%20%20) to reduce the amount of water flowing through city sprinklers and faucets.
The new regulations won’t change much for many cities in Southern California that already have these restrictions in place.
As *The Los Angeles Times* reports, Michelle Figueroa, spokeswoman for the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, says that the state rule “doesn’t change anything.” Los Angeles started restricted outdoor watering to three days a week in 2009.
The board is also calling for prohibited landscape irrigation during and in the 48 hours after a measurable rainfall, and has asked restaurants to serve patrons water only upon request and told hotels to offer customers the option of not having their linens and towels washed daily, which many hotels across the country already do.
Over at [Gizmodo,](http://gizmodo.com/here-are-the-water-restrictions-california-should-have-1692031986?utm_campaign=socialflow_gizmodo_twitter&utm_source=gizmodo_twitter&utm_medium=socialflow%20) writer Alissa Walker has proposed an environmentalist’s wish list of water restrictions, including requiring cities to landscape with native plants. Not a bad idea, Walker.
*(Jenn Stanley is a freelance journalist, essayist and independent producer living in Chicago. She has an M.S. from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University and writes for [nextcity.org](http://nextcity.org) … where this piece was first posted.)*
-cw
CityWatch
Vol 13 Issue 24
Pub: Mar 20, 2015
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