For months, managers of the city of Los Angeles and an external entrepreneur worked to ensure that the Santa Ynez reservoir, the water complex of 117 million gallons in the heart of the Pacific Palisades, could return to service before the beginning of May.
Since the beginning of 2024, the tank was seated empty due to tears in the lid that floats through its surface. The reservoir was empty during the fire of the January 7 palisades, arousing the anger of the residents and encouraging Governor Gavin Newsom to call for an investigation.
With finished repairs, the crews of the Los Angeles Water and Energy Department filled the tank last week when they discovered other tears and “drying -up leaks” in the floating blanket.
Consequently, DWP confirmed on Wednesday that the tank will have to be drained, once again, so that the crews can repair the floating cover. DWP said they expected repairs to take three to four weeks, the reservoir is now estimated online by the half to the end of June.
“Although this development is a frustrating setback, we work as quickly as possible with the entrepreneur to make the Santa Ynez reservoir in the service,” said Anselmo Collins, DWP’s main deputy managing director who supervises the water system.
Collins said that the water supply of the district is “safe and strong”, with water resources for the fight against fires increased by the Encino tank and a network of “complete and operational” storage tanks.
“The water system serving the palisades continues to respect all the federal and state fire codes and water quality standards while these additional repairs are over,” said Collins.
The delay adds to the frustration and fury of the residents of Palisades, who wondered why a large reservoir nestled in a canyon above a large part of the neighborhood was empty when the forest fire on January 7 tore a block after a block, leveling thousands of houses and businesses and killing 12.
In a press release, DWP said that Layfield Group, the entrepreneur who installed the floating cover and set a previous tear in 2022, had tested his repairs on March 26 before giving the green light to fill the tank.
Since March 31, the DWP teams had completed the tank as part of a progressive process that lifts the water level only a few feet a day.
Last week, however, staff members found water downstream on floating coverage – a potential sign of a leak or damage to the coverage.
“The divers were sent to investigate and assess the condition of the coverage and they discovered additional small tears and pin -sized leaks that must be repaired before the tank can be completed,” DWP said in a statement.
The Santa Ynez reservoir in the Pacific palisades, seen in January 2024, will have to be drained again after more leaks have been found.
(California Water Resources Control Board)
Collins, the executive of the DWP, expressed its frustration that leaks were not detected earlier.
“The fact that the initial repairs and the inspection of the entrepreneur have not detected small tears and pin holes on floating cover is disturbing, especially since LADWP asked the entrepreneur to fully test the repairs before filling the reservoir,” he said in a statement.
The reservoir was drained in early 2024 after the authorities found water pooling the floating blanket. After giving those responsible for state water quality, DWP drained the tank to repair the floating coverage.
DWP initially used internal teams to examine the tear and try a solution. But a DWP spokesperson said that since the tear measured at around 100 feet, she was too large for internal technicians.
The task of repairing floating coverage was published for a competitive offer, a process that finally took nine months. A single supplier, Layfield Group, submitted an offer for repair, which was officially approved at the end of 2024.
The repairs had not yet started when the fire of the palisades broke out in January. After the fire, the Layfield team was sent to carry out the initial repairs and to inspect additional damage to the fire cover, such as burning of the flying embers.
Investigations on the reasons why the reservoir was offline as well as on broader water supply problems during the palisades fire remains in progress. DWP said it expects a “preliminary report” to be published in the coming weeks. The independent state survey by the Fire Safety Research Institute is also underway.
In a statement, DWP said that even with the Santa Ynez Offline tank, customers in the Palisades district and the surroundings always have an adequate water supply.
“Given the nature of the water systems of public services and the needs for repairing water and maintenance infrastructure, our tanks are not required to always be in service, and this would not be possible,” said the public service. “Outline infrastructure for maintenance or repairs are part of the regular operational need for a water and critical system to maintain safe drinking water standards.”
Without the tank, Palisades customers obtain water mainly via a large line of trunk which runs along Sunset Boulevard.
“The trunk line was operational and provided sufficient water supply in the palisades,” said the DWP, adding that the water system “responds or exceeds fire code standards, even when we put offline tanks.”
California Daily Newspapers
