Plan to Cover Reservoirs Draws 1,000 L.A. Protesters

Nearly 1,000 angry and vocal Los Angeles residents clashed with city Department of Water and Power officials Saturday over a controversial proposal to cover six of the city’s open-air reservoirs as part of a water-purification effort.

For two hours, residents held aloft critical signs, jeered, hissed and bellowed catcalls at DWP officials as they tried to present a slide show outlining the options under consideration in the purification effort.

The DWP is formulating its plan in response to more-stringent drinking water standards it expects from the state and federal government, and says it could cost taxpayers as much as $1 billion.

The meeting, held at Le Conte Junior High School in Hollywood, was the seventh of nine forums the DWP has scheduled for this month to solicit public comment before completing its plan to improve the quality of drinking water for 3.4 million city residents.

Bruce Mahler, representing the Coalition to Preserve Open Reservoirs, told the gathering that the DWP had its priorities wrong. At the same time the DWP considers covering reservoirs that pose no safety risk, he said, it virtually ignores severe ground-water contamination problems that have forced a shutdown of drinking water wells in the San Fernando Valley.

“In short, the open reservoir water-quality improvement project is an expensive, environmentally destructive, billion-dollar Band-Aid that the DWP is trying to plaster over serious problems within our entire water system,” Mahler said. “Trying to shove the project down our throats will do nothing to restore the confidence of citizens. . . . “

Mahler got a standing ovation from the crowd, as did other several speakers.

The catcalls got so bad that at one point an onlooker rose to condemn what he called “utterly contemptible public displays,” adding that although he did not approve of covering the reservoirs, “I’m a taxpayer, and we don’t owe you people a pretty reservoir just so you can look at it.”

Coalition spokeswoman Susan Scibilia said the public turnout was the best yet, adding that each successive meeting has drawn increasing numbers of concerned citizens from across the city--not just from areas near reservoirs.

The DWP has proposed covering Upper Stone Canyon, Santa Ynez, Upper Hollywood, Ivanhoe, Elysian and Rowena reservoirs, which range in size from 5.7 acres to 14.6 acres. Options for the remaining reservoirs considered too large and irregularly shaped to be covered--Lower Hollywood, Silver Lake, Encino and Lower Stone Canyon--include fitting them with filtration systems or replacing them with storage tanks.

“Today the water delivered to you is good, but it could be better,” DWP engineer Tom Rulla said during his slide presentation. “There are real threats from water taken from open reservoirs.”

Rulla and Walter Hoye, engineer of water design for DWP, said bird droppings and particles from the air and water runoff are contaminating the open reservoirs. They also said sunlight is creating algae that fosters potentially carcinogenic compounds when mixed with chlorine. The reservoirs are outdated, DWP officials said, and help contribute to the fact that two out of three DWP customers no longer drink tap water.

“Our customers have concerns . . . and we want to address those concerns and be responsive to our customers,” Hoye said in an interview.

Despite the rancorous tone of many in the crowd, Hoye remarked: “This is a good turnout. We are very pleased about that.”

The remaining two meetings are set for later this month in Eagle Rock and Canoga Park. A final environmental impact report, including the public comments, is expected by November, after which it will be considered for approval by DWP commissioners.

Water used by Los Angeles residents, most of which is transported from hundreds of miles away, is held in 96 reservoirs and tanks around the Los Angeles Basin. The DWP says most of the reservoirs already are covered.