Potable water used to fill LA's lakes

Anonymous sent in this interesting tidbit:

I reviewed the proposed LA Area Lakes TMDL and was a bit shocked to see the numbers on "input flows" to some of the artificial lakes:

• Lincoln Park Lake - 30.8 AF/Y potable water
• Lake Calabasas - 57.9 AF/Y potable water
• El Dorado Park Lakes / northern lake system - 110 AF/Y groundwater
• El Dorado Park Lakes / southern lake system - 105 AF/Y potable water
• Legg Lakes - 1,073 AF/Y groundwater
• Santa Fe Dam Park Lake - 1,319 AF/Y groundwater & 544 AF/Y potable

The LA Area Lakes TMDL doesn't include all LA area lakes - only those getting new TMDLs this year. It seems to me that using potable water and groundwater to fill gigantic decorative water features in arid climates isn't the best use of the resource. I'd be interested to see the full balance sheet by lake or by region.

Maybe you or one of your readers knows more on this.

Los Angeles has used water for amenities (palm trees, parks and ponds) for many decades, but this amazes me. Who is paying for this water? The City? Out of general funds?

This does not make me sympathetic to Angelenos claiming that they need more water.

Bottom Line: Shortages are man-made, and they start with poor demand management.