Mayors Politely Say Other Is All Wet on Drought

After weeks of verbal sparring from a distance over whose city was doing the better job of conserving the Southland’s dwindling water supply, Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley and San Diego Mayor Maureen O’Connor met face-to-face Wednesday.

Even as a new rainstorm raised hopes that the drought might be easing, the leaders of the state’s two largest cities squared off over how to fight the water problem and--after a half-hour summit--they agreed to disagree and continue pursuing divergent courses.

O’Connor insisted that San Diegans would rise to the occasion and meet their goal of cutting use by 30% through voluntary means, even as Bradley assured her that Los Angeles had tried that during the past year and failed.

“It’s a question of having tried voluntary (rationing) and seeing that it didn’t work,” Bradley told reporters during a joint press conference with O’Connor after their 5 p.m. meeting in Bradley’s office.

“Mayor Bradley wants to support my enthusiasm, but with caution,” said the diminutive O’Connor as she peered over the top of the lectern custom-built for the much taller Bradley.

The mayors did agree on one point: Bradley said he would join with O’Connor in enlisting the aid of the California congressional delegation to find ways to cut the military’s use of water. The military is the largest user of water in San Diego, consuming an estimated 6% of the city’s supply annually.

And O’Connor eased her position slightly as she assured Bradley that she is “committed” to adopting a mandatory rationing system if her voluntary programs fail.

O’Connor said that if San Diegans fail to cut their water use by 30% in 30 days, she will back a mandatory system.

“I’m confident we will get 30% (conservation) in March,” O’Connor said.

For the first 12 days of the month, which included some of the heaviest rains of the year, San Diego cut water usage by 34%, while Los Angeles cut consumption by about 26%.

Still, at a morning news conference on her home turf, O’Connor appeared to be sticking to her hard line. Using strong language, O’Connor said she opposes water rate increases that are to be considered by the San Diego City Council today, favors drawing water from the city’s emergency reserves to mitigate the effects of an upcoming 50% supply cut, and said she believes the drought may be ending.

“I am an optimistic person, and I realize that,” she said. “But I’m beginning to think that the weather is a-changing, and you might be seeing the tail end of that drought, even though there isn’t anybody in the state that seems to want to admit that today.”

Bradley said simply: “I don’t believe they will be able to maintain (a 30% cut). . . . I do believe every city has a responsibility” to do its share in combating regional and statewide water shortages.”

In a letter delivered to O’Connor after the summit--and to the press shortly after the meeting got under way--Bradley said:

“Just as a conscientious water-saver will stop conserving if he sees his neighbor flagrantly wasting water, so will your fellow (cities) be less inclined to cut back on water use if the savings are likely to be wasted in some other city.”

In February, San Diego exceeded its allotment of water from the Metropolitan Water District by 46%, while Los Angeles purchased 16% less than its allotment.

After those figures were made public, Los Angeles Department of Water and Power Chairman Mike Gage kicked off the inter-city squabble by saying that if everyone in Southern California behaved the way San Diego does, “we’d all be out of water pretty soon.”

Building on that, Bradley called on MWD General Manager Carl Boronkay to compile and make public a comprehensive accounting of what steps have been taken by Southland cities to conserve and to detail how successful they have been in achieving their goals.

“The people in Los Angeles have been conserving . . . but our people have the right to expect that other Southern Californians are conserving as well,” Bradley said.

Times staff writers Leonard Bernstein and Amy Wallace in San Diego contributed to this story.