--- title: Los Angeles Throws 96M Balls At California's Drought Problem | TIME description: Millions of spheres, 4 inches in diameter, are meant to slow water evaporation from Los Angeles reservoirs by simply floating on the water. canonical: https://time.com/video/7Yn2cIV0/ og:title: Los Angeles Throws 96M Balls At California's Drought Problem og:description: Millions of spheres, 4 inches in diameter, are meant to slow water evaporation from Los Angeles reservoirs by simply floating on the water. og:url: https://time.com/video/7Yn2cIV0/ og:image: https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/7Yn2cIV0/poster.jpg?width=720 og:type: video.other twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Los Angeles Throws 96M Balls At California's Drought Problem twitter:description: Millions of spheres, 4 inches in diameter, are meant to slow water evaporation from Los Angeles reservoirs by simply floating on the water. twitter:image: https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/7Yn2cIV0/poster.jpg?width=720 --- # Los Angeles Throws 96M Balls At California's Drought Problem > Sponsored content. 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They are at time.com/newsletters and are separate from a paid subscription. ## Video: Los Angeles Throws 96M Balls At California's Drought Problem [Watch (HLS stream): Los Angeles Throws 96M Balls At California's Drought Problem](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/7Yn2cIV0.m3u8) (1:35)  _Published 2015-08-13. Millions of spheres, 4 inches in diameter, are meant to slow water evaporation from Los Angeles reservoirs by simply floating on the water._ --- Jul 27, 2023 6:39 PM UTC --- ## More From This Series [All Videos](https://time.com/video/) [Shade Balls in Las Virgenes Municipal Water District, Calabasas, California](/video/xqYs3IM4/) ### Shade Balls in Las Virgenes Municipal Water District, Calabasas, California [Starbucks Water Comes From Drought-Stricken California](/video/F4jzj8Hv/) ### Starbucks Water Comes From Drought-Stricken California [How California’s Drought Will Affect Your Wallet](/video/e4k4jpdG/) ### How California’s Drought Will Affect Your Wallet --- ## Transcript What's black, round meant to save water, and cost $ 34. 5 million? [ SOUND ] Well, they're called shade balls and that's exactly what they do. The spheres, four inches in diameter, are meant to cut down on water evaporation from the Los Angeles reservoirs by simply floating on top of the water. By reducing evaporation, the shade balls will conserve. 300 million gallons of water each year, instead of just evaporating into the sky. Oddly enough Californians use this method to conserve water before. It was originally used in 2008 to help with water quality, but the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power discovered it has the added benefit of reducing evaporation off of the reservoir Surface by 85 to 90 %. The 96 million shade balls covering the surface of the Los Angeles reservoir cost about 35 cents each. And while this method seems a bit unorthodox, the mayor says the alternative options are much, much more expensive. For example, according to the mayor's office, building two floating covers over the 175 acre reservoir. Would have cost upwards of $ 300 million, but the LA Department of Water and Power says this plastic is made of high density polyethylene, so it's reportedly not harmful if it touches drinking water. This isn't gonna add to that kind of plastic pollution. No, nothing leaks out of it, nothing gets In the water. The need for something, anything, to help the state's water reserves is pretty drastic. According to the National Drought Mitigation Center, this is California's fourth straight year of severe drought and it's affecting more than 92 % of the state. ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Los Angeles Throws 96M Balls At California's Drought Problem","description":"Millions of spheres, 4 inches in diameter, are meant to slow water evaporation from Los Angeles reservoirs by simply floating on the water.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/7Yn2cIV0/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2015-08-13T17:14:40.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/7Yn2cIV0.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/video/7Yn2cIV0/","duration":"PT1M35S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/video/7Yn2cIV0/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}} ```