Supervisor Don Knabe responded to rising gas prices and the statewide drought this week by directing County leaders to begin reducing commuting times for County employees and reducing water usage in County facilities.

In his first motion, Supervisor Knabe called for creative solutions to rising gas prices by updating County polices on telecommuting, offering flexible schedule options, and offering incentives to employees to use public transportation. With tens of thousands of employees, Los Angeles County is the largest employer in Southern California.

A second motion was introduced by Knabe in response to Governor Schwarzenegger’s proclamation of a statewide drought due to a severely low water supply, below-average rainfall, and court-ordered water restrictions. The motion asks for recommendations on how to immediately reduce water usage in hundreds of County-owned facilities.

Higher gas prices and lower water levels are both serious issues facing the County and our employees, said Supervisor Knabe. We need to be sure the County is doing everything possible to address these challenges with creative solutions.

In February 2007, Supervisor Knabe responded to the need to increase the use and longevity of the local water supply by creating the County’s Office of Water Recycling, which was tasked with doubling the region’s use of non-potable recycled water by 2030 – an annual increase of 54 billion gallons.