Set sprinklers to water the lawn or garden only - not the street or sidewalk.
Use the microwave to cook small meals. (It uses less power than an oven.)
Purchase "Green Power" for your home's electricity. (Contact your power supplier to see where and if it is available.)
Scrape, rather than rinse, dishes before loading into the dishwasher; wash only full loads.
Cut back on air conditioning and heating use if you can.
Turn off appliances and lights when you leave the room.
LOS ANGELES — Recycling wastewater and further restricting usage are the key elements of a long-range Los Angeles water strategy to be unveiled Thursday.
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's plan could cost up to $2 billion over 20 years. It comes as Los Angeles tries to meet a projected 15 percent increase in water demand by 2030.
The plan includes adding treated wastewater to drinking supplies. The city constructed a system to do that in the 1990s, but abandoned it amid criticism.
"This is a new day," said Department of Water and Power General Manager David Nahai. "We have new technology."
But some think voters should decide whether they want treated wastewater in their water supply.
"It's grossly unfair for the mayor, the City Council or the DWP to decide consumers are going to be using this recycled water," said Gerald Silver, president of Homeowners of Encino.
Overall, the plan calls for a 600 percent increase in the DWP's recycled water use.
Water restrictions seen in the 1990s again would be enforced. Residents no longer would be allowed to wash driveways and sidewalks or water lawns during midday.
Getting more conservation equipment into homes and businesses would be accomplished through financial incentives and building code changes.
The plan also would quadruple the capacity of Big Tujunga Dam to collect rainfall.
The City Council must approve a final version of the water plan, including how it would be financed. According to the mayor's office, funding would come from existing grants and the DWP's budget — not rate increases.
An additional $500 million to $1 billion would be needed to clean up the contaminated water supply beneath the San Fernando Valley. The mayor's office said that could be funded through suing commercial polluters.
