LADWP is the largest municipal utility in the United States. Their power system provides about 8,100 megawatts of dependable electric capacity and their water system serves an average of 450 million gallons of water per day to more than 4 million residents of Los Angeles, its businesses and visitors. Supplying water to Los Angeles since 1902 and electricity since 1917, LADWP has continually evolved to meet the needs of its customers and provide reliable water and power service in a cost-effective and environmentally responsible manner.
LADWP supplied about 197 billion gallons of water annually for the City of Los Angeles' 676,000 residential and business services from 2007 to 2011. The average resident uses about 140 gallons of water daily. The availability of water has significantly contributed towards the tremendous growth and development of Los Angeles. Since 1902 when the population in Los Angeles was approximately 146,000 to today when the population is approximately 3.8 million, the LADWP has worked hard to ensure that Angelenos receive a safe and reliable water supply. Groundwater is the City’s primary source of local water supply. It has provided nearly 30% of the City’s total supply during water shortages when imported supplies become unreliable. In recent years, contamination has impacted the City’s ability to fully utilize its local groundwater entitlements. LADWP has planned to construct treatment facilities for the clean-up of the San Fernando Groundwater Basin to restore this valuable resource. In addition, the City of Los Angeles continues working on maintaining a reliable source of supplemental water supply from the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California (MWD). MWD has been a reliable supplier of water to the City and is a critical part of its long-term water resources plan. That said, MWD is constantly facing supply reliability challenges. Environmental and infrastructural issues have curtailed pumping from the San Francisco Bay-Delta for MWD’s State Water Project supply. And prolonged dry period beginning in 1999 on the Colorado River system, and Arizona and Nevada using their full apportionment of Colorado River water are also issues associated with MWD’s Colorado River Aqueduct water.