Metropolitan Water District of Southern California (MWD) will shut down its F.E. Weymouth Water Treatment Plant in La Verne from March 18 to 28 to make needed reliability upgrades, prepare the plant for ozone treatment and inspect structures that are inaccessible when the plant is in service.  This will impact 1.7 million customers stretching from La Crescenta to Claremont.

The District purchases imported water from MWD through Foothill Municipal Water District of Southern California (FMWD) to supplement and blend with local groundwater.  While the amount of purchase water is at times up to 40 percent of demand, currently the District is only purchasing 25% of its demand.  In 2004 the District invested in an interconnection with the City of Glendale.  This interconnection allows the District to obtain water from the City of Glendale for emergency purposes.

The District does not anticipate any water supply problems during the shutdown; however, the District is requesting that residents do their part to ensure reservoirs and local supplies won’t be drawn down. Steps include no outdoor watering, hand-washing vehicles, filling swimming pools or spas during the 10 days. Other water-saving measures include running only full loads in washing machines and dishwashers, keeping showers to a maximum of five minutes and not leaving the water running while brushing your teeth or shaving.

Gardeners are asked to delay planting new landscaping—which typically requires continual watering to establish plants, shrubs and trees- until after the shutdown.

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