LOS ANGELES - Los Angeles city officials have pulled the plug on plans to temporarily transform a downtown street into a giant water slide because of drought.

The Bureau of Street Services killed the plan Friday after complaints that the event would waste precious water. It also frowned on a proposal to use the leftover water to irrigate Griffith Park.

An organizer of the Sept. 28 event apologized to the thousands who signed up.

The padded slide would have used 56,800 litres to 75,700 litres to send participants slipping several blocks between courthouses and past City Hall.

A Public Works spokesman says the water department thought the event was a bad idea at a time when conservation is being promoted. The parks department objected to using chlorinated water on plants and grass.