Beverly Hills : Council Rejects Study of Wells

The City Council has turned down a proposal to set up a committee to study whether the city’s water wells should be reopened.

The proposal, which had been recommended by a citizens advisory group appointed by Mayor Charlotte Spadaro, was rejected 3 to 2.

Beverly Hills, which has a large underground water supply, closed its wells in 1976, choosing instead to buy its water fro the Metropolitan Water District, a regional agency.

A committee headed by Ellen Stern Harris, a former representative on the board of the Metropolitan Water District, said the city should consider reopening its wells because of potential shortages in the metropolitan district and the possibility that an earthquake could knock out water supplies.

But the majority of the council decided that there was no point in appointing a standing committee to consider the water issue, Vice Mayor Benjamin H. Stansbury Jr. said.

“We have the water district and our water department and our public works department and we have a major consultant’s report (submitted last year) and we feel we know what’s going on,” Stansbury said.

“This should be handled on a periodic basis at the request of the mayor,” he said.