Local News in Brief : Shut-Off of Calabasas Pipeline Leaves District in Hot Water

A leaking pipeline and trickling mail delivery led to a flood of complaints to the Las Virgenes Municipal Water District on Wednesday.

To allow for repairs to a leaking 18-inch pipeline, water service to 900 Calabasas homes north of the Ventura Freeway at Las Virgenes Road was shut off for 15 hours.

But homeowners contend that warning letters from the district, alerting them to fill jugs and bathtubs with makeshift supplies of water, did not arrive early enough.

“I found the letter in the mailbox last night, but it was addressed to ‘Occupant’ and it looked like junk mail so I didn’t open it right away,” resident Joanne Suwara said Wednesday. “It looked like one of their flyers promoting shower-flow restricters.

“My first thought this morning when I tried to turn on the shower was that I hadn’t paid my water bill. I noticed the letter and opened it when I was calling the water district to complain.”

Las Virgenes officials said they were deluged with such complaints from residents who had to endure a morning without showers or coffee. The letters, announcing that the pipe would be shut off from 9 p.m. Tuesday to 6 a.m. Wednesday, were supposed to have been delivered Monday, officials said.

“We learned last Friday that we had to shut down the pipe to make the repair, and we worked Saturday morning to get the letters out,” said Diane Eaton, water district administrative assistant.

“I don’t know what went wrong.”

“That pipe’s been leaking in the street since the summer,” grumbled resident David Brown. “They should have planned this further ahead.”