Last July, Los Angeles County park officials hosted a pool party to celebrate a decision to extend the county’s public pool season from just 10 weeks to a full five months, with pools open from June through October.
The decision to expand the availability of public pools, a valuable resource for Angelenos looking to cool off, came as Southern California grapples with increasing temperatures due to climate change that can extend well into the fall.
“Some of our hottest days come in September and October, but under our old ten-week swim season, our pools were locked up and out of reach of residents by then. That made no sense,” said Los Angeles County Supervisor Janice Hahn in a news release about the expanded pool dates last year.
But this summer, the county’s public pools will again be locked up through the dog days of late August and September, as LA County’s parks department faces a $22 million budget reduction. The budget cuts are part of broader reductions in Los Angeles County, which cut a total of $88.9 million from its spending this year…