Good Weather Aiding Aqueduct Repairs

Another sunny day aided heavy equipment crews as they worked round-the-clock Sunday to clear tons of mud and debris that last week’s thunderstorms and flash floods dumped into a two-mile stretch of the Los Angeles Aqueduct near Olancha, 180 miles north of Los Angeles.

“We are on schedule for our two-week completion date. Things are progressing as we had expected,” said Department of Water and Power spokesman Ed Freudenberg.

Officials expect the aqueduct, which provides 75% of Los Angeles’ water supply, to be back in operation by Aug. 25 or 26.

Freudenberg said repairs will begin early this week on 80 concrete slabs, each 10-by-13-feet and four-inches thick, that line the aqueduct. A storm last Tuesday piled mud and debris into the big ditch, and a second storm Thursday buckled about 1,000 feet of the concrete lining.

Cautious Use of Water

Freudenberg renewed his request Sunday for consumers “to be mindful of how they use water,” while stressing that no shortages will result from the interrupted aqueduct supply.

During the two-week repairs, water is being drawn from two reservoirs south of the damaged area--Haiwee about five miles from the blockage, and Bouquet near Saugus. The Bouquet Reservoir was nearly full in anticipation of a regular maintenance shutdown of the aqueduct planned in September, Freudenberg said.

The city is also purchasing 350 million gallons of water a day from the Metropolitan Water District, about 250 million gallons more than normal at this time, he said.

Whether the department proceeds with the planned shutdown of the aqueduct for needed routine repairs in September may depend on how much of the water stored for that project must be used now, Freudenberg said.