Los Angeles running out of water

story by 24/7 Wall St
written by Charles B. Stockdale, Michael B. Sauter, Douglas A. McIntyre

Los Angeles' Major Water Supply: Colorado River Basin

Population (U.S. rank): 3,831,868 (2nd)

Population Growth Rate: 3.7% since 2000

Average annual rainfall: 14.77 in.

In the 1980's, Los Angeles suffered a major crisis when the city was forced to stop using 40% of its drinking water due to industrial runoff contamination. Like Las Vegas, the city now relies on importing water from the Colorado River via hundreds of miles of aqueducts.

The Colorado may only be a temporary solution, however, as the city continues to increase its demand at an unsustainable rate. In its utility risk rating, Ceres gave the Los Angeles Department of Water & Power the highest likelihood of risk among the cities it assessed. That list included Atlanta and the Forth Worth area.

On top of this, the Hoover Dam, which is the main source of electricity for L.A. and much of the greater Southwest, is also producing at a lower rate than it has historically. Some scientists suspect this drop-off will continue to a point where its electricity production is too small to sustain the dam economically.

Los Angeles, even if the dam doesn't cease production in 2013, as some predict, still faces serious water shortages.