Southern California drought emergency declared

Colorado River water to be brought to the region

LOS ANGELES, Calif. (AP) — The giant Metropolitan Water District of Southern California has declared a regional drought emergency due to record dry conditions.

Directors made the declaration Tuesday in a resolution that calls for increased conservation.

Metropolitan serves as a wholesaler to 26 local water agencies that supply a region with 19 million people.

Board Chairwoman Gloria D. Gray says Southern California on average gets about one-third of its water from Northern California via the State Water Project and next year it will be lucky to get a small fraction of that.

Metropolitan is trying to preserve State Water Project supplies by instead delivering Colorado River water to as much of the region as possible.