*The giant Metropolitan Water District imposed the first restrictions to conserve water on Tuesday.
With information from CalMatters
Unprecedented water conservation restrictions are expected for about 6 million Southern Californians, a sign of a deepening drought in counties that rely on water piped from the state's dry reservoirs.
The Metropolitan Water District board voted unanimously today to require six major water providers and the dozens of cities and local districts they serve to impose one of two options: limit residents to watering outdoors once a week or reduce overall water use below a certain target.
Water providers must have plans to monitor their customers, and if they fail to enforce restrictions to conserve water, they could face fines of $2,000 for each additional acre-foot of water over their monthly allocation limits, starting in June, according to the agency.