LOS ANGELES — A 15-day outdoor watering ban took effect for 4 million Los Angeles County residents on Tuesday as crews make emergency repairs to a pipeline that delivers water to Southern Californians, according to the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California.
The 36-mile Upper Feeder pipeline, which carries water from the Colorado River to Southern California, began leaking earlier this year, officials said. The agency made temporary repairs and continued using the pipeline at a reduced capacity but scheduled permanent repairs to be made from Tuesday to Sept. 20, during which the pipeline will be offline.
“We need to make this urgent repair to ensure this infrastructure can continue serving Southern California in the immediate term and for years to come,” Brent Yamasaki, an MWD operations manager, said in a statement. “While we do this work, we need people who normally get water from this pipeline to eliminate their outdoor water use to stretch the limited available water supplies. We don’t take this call lightly, but it is what is needed at this time.”
