Crustaceans Force Closure of Reservoir
Small crustaceans have made their way into the drinking water supply of a neighborhood southwest of downtown, prompting the closure Thursday of Rowena Reservoir in Silver Lake for at least a month, officials said.
It was the second time in eight days that the Department of Water and Power has been forced to temporarily close a reservoir in the same area because of an infestation believed to have been triggered by a prolonged hot spell this summer and the proliferation of algae, DWP spokeswoman Debra Sass said.
On July 16, the agency closed the 77-acre Silver Lake Reservoir after residents in the 2900 block of Van Buren Place reported tiny brown wormlike midge fly larvae in their drinking water, Sass said.
On Thursday, the DWP closed the 5.7-acre Rowena Reservoir after translucent-yellow aquatic amphipods measuring slightly larger than a half-inch were discovered in the water supply for the same neighborhood.
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