If you’ve felt the heat this July in Los Angeles, you’re not alone—and water remains at the center of city headlines. Over the last 48 hours, the city’s water story has been shaped by heat, drought, a big infrastructure push, and ongoing vigilance over water quality.
First, let’s talk rainfall. The Los Angeles Almanac reports that so far in July 2025, Downtown Los Angeles has only picked up a mere 0.02 inches of rain. That’s right—virtually nothing has fallen, continuing a pattern of extremely dry weather. For context, the entire 2024-2025 rainfall season finished far short of average, with just 6.5 inches of rain since last October, less than half the normal annual amount of 15.4 inches. This lack of rain stands in stark contrast to the previous year, where more than 117 billion gallons of stormwater were captured, but in 2025, only about 11.9 billion gallons made it into the system, underscoring persisting drought conditions according to LA County Public Works.
So what’s being done to secure future water supplies? The Metropolitan Water District announced this week that construction will soon begin on the Sepulveda Feeder Pump Stations Project. This massive initiative, greenlit with an extra $54 million, will push water from the Colorado River and the Diamond Valley Lake reservoir into communities that have traditionally relied almost entirely on Sierra snowmelt. In the last drought, some neighborhoods—home to nearly 7 million people—were left scrambling for water, and dramatic water use cutbacks were ordered. By boosting capacity with these new pump stations, the city hopes to weather future droughts with far less disruption, emphasizes Adán Ortega, Jr., Chair of Metropolitan’s board.
When it comes to water quality, there’s progress, but also challenges. The Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board reported on ongoing work to clean up significant pollution sites, such as the Santa Susana Field Laboratory, and imposed multimillion-dollar penalties for sewage spills and stormwater violations. These steps follow the recent penalties against sanitation districts for past sewage incidents, ensuring accountability and aiming for protection of drinking water and local waterways.
Meanwhile, if you’re heading to the beach to beat the heat, keep an ear out for advisories. In May, the LA County Department of Public Health flagged several popular beaches—Santa Monica Pier, Avalon Beach at Catalina, and Mothers Beach in Marina Del Rey—for bacteria levels above safety standards. They’ve since cleared some swim areas, but warnings can go up quickly after rainfall or sewage spill incidents, so checking the county hotline before swimming is a smart habit for every Angeleno.
The California Hydrology Update from July 16, 2025, notes that, across the state, precipitation was at about 95 percent of average by the end of June—decent news statewide, but Southern California’s local picture is drier. This means continued calls from local officials for water conservation, smart stormwater capture, and a push for everyone to treat saving water as part of daily life.
To help customers through the current heat, the LA Department of Water and Power has cranked up its Cool LA initiative, offering rebates and tips for reducing electricity—and by extension, water—use at home while staying cool.
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