Home » This reservoir was built to save Pacific Palisades. It was empty when the flames came – Jobsmaa.com

This reservoir was built to save Pacific Palisades. It was empty when the flames came – Jobsmaa.com

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After flames leveled nearly 500 homes in Bel-Air and Brentwood in 1961, Los Angeles went into firefighting.

By 1964, city leaders had added 13 fire stations, mapped fire hydrants, purchased helicopters and sent more personnel to the Santa Monica Mountains. To accommodate the growth of Pacific Palisades, they built a reservoir in Santa Ynez Canyon and a pumping station to “increase fire protection,” according to then-Chief Water Engineer Gerald W. of the LA Department of Water and Power. Jones said. The Times in 1972.

Some Palisades residents initially fought to keep a reservoir nearby, fearing a repeat of the 1963 Baldwin Hills disaster, when a reservoir failed, killing five people and destroying about 280 homes.

A black-and-white photo of the two standing as a reservoir is packed

In a photograph published in 1970, Department of Water and Power engineers Gerald W. Jones and William J. Simon watches as the Santa Ynez Reservoir in Pacific Palisades fills up.

(George R. Fry)

Over the decades, the Santa Ynez Reservoir became a source of comfort.

said Peggy Holder, who bought a townhouse in Palisades Highlands in 1978, a stone's throw from the reservoir. . “It's something I never worry about.”

But Jan. On the 7th, a reservoir that had long been a lifeline for Palisades residents was empty as the wildfire spread rapidly amid dangerously strong winds.

“If the reservoir had been there and they were pumping it, I think our building would have been saved,” said Holder, who lived in the 36-unit condo complex. Holder's townhouse and others in the complex survived the fire's first night, but the area burned after water pressure dropped. “Nothing more.”

It is a 117 million gallon reservoir It was offline for repair Infuriated against The DWP and its leadershipIt sparked at least two lawsuits, prompting Gov. Gavin Newsom to order an investigation. Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass has promised a thorough assessment of the city's response to the wildfires, which destroyed at least 6,380 structures and killed at least 11 people.

The reservoir is empty, and the DWP's head of water operations told The Times it won't be repaired until April or May.

The episode has raised an urgent question from residents and city leaders: Why has the reservoir been empty for nearly a year?

The saga dates back to January 2024, when a DWB property manager found tears in the reservoir's floating cover after a series of rains, according to internal emails reviewed by The Times.

The reservoir remained uncapped for decades, and in 2012 the city installed a large floating membrane to comply with federal regulations. The enclosure is there to prevent animals and debris from contaminating the water and to control algae and bacteria.

When a property manager saw the tear again two days later, it appeared to have gotten bigger, according to the emails.

At the time, the reservoir held about 56 million gallons of water — less than half its capacity.

DWP policy calls for minor repairs to cover “within 48 hours of discovery,” according to the maintenance manual for the reservoir. However, major repairs require “special skills” and are contracted out, the manual notes.

It is not clear how the DWP originally assessed tears, but in both cases, the manual reflects urgency: “Repair as soon as the engineer directs.”

In late January, the DWP developed a plan for repairs and had a target date of bringing the reservoir back up by April 2024, before “peak demands” in the late spring and summer, the emails indicate.

Santa Ynez Reservoir in the Palisades Highlands was seen on Jan. 7 just before 1 p.m.

Santa Ynez Reservoir in the Palisades Highlands was seen on Jan. 7 just before 1 p.m.

(David Hansen)

There was one hitch: Emptying the reservoir would take time, and sending so much water down the drain and creek after repeated rains would cause significant erosion, the emails said. Instead, DWP officials wanted to keep the reservoir running, despite the leak, allowing residents to use 20 million gallons before draining the rest.

According to the emails, state officials appear to have blocked the plan.

An engineer with the state Office of Water Quality said his team “does not support” allowing the Santa Ynez Reservoir back into service until late January 2024, according to an email from a DWP regulatory affairs officer.

“Their decision was not based on the sample results provided earlier today, which demonstrated that the samples collected yesterday were free of bacteria,” the DWP official wrote.

At that point, the DWP began draining water from the reservoir, a process that could take up to two months. In April, it put out an invitation for bids to repair the cover, at a cost of $89,000.

Only one company, Layfield Group — which founded the card in 2012 — returned to bid, and the deal was finalized on Nov. 21 for about $130,000.

The reservoir had been empty for months, drawing no attention to its absence. Residents still had water to shower or fill their pools — the city's vast water system supplies the area with enough — and helicopters could land on the reservoir's helipad to refill from a hookup connected to the water system.

The DWP did not elaborate on the timeframe, but in a statement, the repairs are “subject to the city charter's competitive bidding process which requires time.”

Tuesday, DWP chief executive Janisse Quiñones A meeting of the LA City Council's Energy and Environment Committee was scheduled to publicly address the utility's response to the wildfires.

But Quinones' presentation was blocked by City Atty. Hyde Feldstein Soto.

“Based on several lawsuits filed against the LA Department of Water and Power in light of the Palisades wildfires,” the city attorney asserted. [Quiñones] didn't join us today,” said Councilor Adrienne Najarian, who chairs the group. said Tuesday afternoon.

Najarian said Quinones will be available to answer questions from council members Wednesday during a closed-door meeting focused on one of the lawsuits filed in connection with the Palisades fire.

A spokeswoman for Feldstein Soto did not respond to requests for comment.

According to multiple interviews, Upper Palisades residents are considering the lawsuit, though it's unclear whether the reservoir would have made a meaningful difference in firefighters' ability to battle the flames. The Palisades fire was nearly impossible to contain because of strong Santa Ana winds that precluded the use of airplanes and helicopters, and municipal water systems are not equipped for such blazes, water system experts said.

Palisades residents, meanwhile, are taking on a long and expensive rebuilding process.

Hunter Simon, who lives with his family about 2,000 feet from the reservoir, believes his house would not have burned if the reservoir had been full. In a previous fire, he benefited from proximity, with helicopters inadvertently dropping water on his property even though the flames were nowhere near.

“You never leave thinking you're saying goodbye to something,” Simon said.

Times staff writer Melody Gutierrez contributed to this report.

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