Plan to Bar Reservoir Covers Wins Assembly OK

Despite a warning that public health might be sacrificed so that well-to-do residents can enjoy scenic views, the Assembly on Tuesday passed legislation that could prevent Los Angeles from covering 10 reservoirs that store drinking water for the city.

The bill was authored by Assemblyman Mike Roos (D-Los Angeles), who plans to build a home with a commanding view of the Silver Lake Reservoir, one of five at which the Department of Water and Power is considering building filtration plants.

Although that reservoir is not among the 10 that might be covered, Roos said he knows from years of living near the man-made lake that such reservoirs are a “focal point” for surrounding neighborhoods.

“People in neighborhoods have certain rights that must be considered when we as a government make decisions that ultimately impact the quality of their lives,” Roos said.

Aesthetic Values

The bill, approved on a 48-27 vote and sent to the Senate, would declare all public reservoirs in the state “public resources” and require that any change in them preserve the reservoirs’ recreational, scenic and aesthetic values.

The measure would prohibit the state Department of Health Services from ordering a reservoir covered or drained unless no “technically feasible” alternative could be found.

“This is a modest attempt by Los Angeles neighborhood groups to bring a modicum of clear thinking to what has thus far been a purely technical decision by government bureaucrats,” Roos said.

But Assemblyman Tom McClintock (R-Thousand Oaks) said Roos’ bill deserved “unanimous rejection.”

“Should the public health, the quality and safety of our drinking water, be jeopardized to enhance the views of a few wealthy homeowners?” McClintock asked colleagues. “This would place recreation and aesthetics ahead of the storage and delivery of water and ahead of the protection of the public health.”

Animal Waste

McClintock referred to statements by DWP officials, who said the covers and filtration plants are needed to keep trash, animal waste and cancer-causing chemicals out of the water supply.

Neighborhood groups from Pacific Palisades to Elysian Park have formed a coalition to fight the plan. Residents near the reservoirs say the covers could ruin their views and attract vandals. The filtration plants, they say, could be ugly and noisy.

“A neighborhood in its best form is a notion of community organization that transcends just a group of people who happen to live next to each other,” Roos said. “There’s something that binds them. What I am saying is that the binder in some of our Los Angeles communities is our reservoirs.”