Use of Drinking Water OKd for Wildlife-Refuge Pond : Ecology: Mayor Bradley heeds pleas of conservationists, who say the move is needed for migrating Canada geese in the Sepulveda Basin.

Mayor Tom Bradley temporarily cast aside drought considerations Wednesday and, responding to the pleas of conservationists, ordered the use of drinking water to fill a wildlife-refuge pond in the Sepulveda Basin Recreation Area.

Plans remain to permanently fill the 11-acre, man-made pond with recycled effluent from a nearby sewage treatment plant, officials at the Encino park said.

But the winter arrival of Canada geese and pleas from the Audubon Society and Sierra Club persuaded Bradley to dip into the city’s potable water supply for the shallow pool--the focal point of a recently completed, $1-million wildlife refuge in the city’s second-largest park.

“The city has made a strong commitment to water conservation,” said Bill Chandler, Bradley’s spokesman. But, he said, the mayor also “considered the facts and the commitment made to constructing a wildlife refuge, and to wildlife.”

The 750,000 gallons required to fill the pond with 6 to 9 inches of water is “close to the equivalent of two waterings of a golf course, depending on the time of year,” said Richard Ginevan, chief park supervisor for the Recreation and Parks Department’s San Fernando Valley region.

Ginevan said it will take several days using a two-inch pipe to partially fill the pond, which began Wednesday.

Michael Lipshultz, conservation chairman for the San Fernando Valley Audubon Society, said he was pleased but feared the public would mistakenly view the mayor’s decision as wasteful.

“When people see a body of water such as a lake, they see water,” Lipshultz said. “But when they see a green lawn, they see the lawn. They don’t see all the water it takes to keep it green.”

The Sepulveda Basin--a 2,000-acre urban oasis bordered by the San Diego and Ventura freeways--is a Mecca for bird-watchers who have documented more than 100 varieties, some so rare they are on the endangered species list, Lipshultz said.

But Lipshultz said that if the pond remains dry, migrating birds would be forced to land at other, overcrowded reservoirs, a condition that contributes to stress, death and a lower birth rate.

The wildlife pond was filled in March when it was dedicated, but drained during the summer for mosquito control. It was supposed to be refilled this fall.

But park officials have been waiting for permits to water the entire basin with treated effluent from the Tillman Water Reclamation Plant, an ambitious plan requiring approval from the state Regional Water Quality Control Board.

The recycled water would supply the wildlife pond, 26-acre Lake Balboa and the basin’s three golf courses--currently kept green with drinking water from the Department of Water and Power, Ginevan said. Lake Balboa, intended for boating and other recreational uses, remains dry.

At the same time, the parks department tried to comply with a city ban on fountains and ponds that do not recirculate their water. The wildlife pond must be continually replenished because of natural evaporation.

Ginevan said keeping the pond level will take as much as 3,600 gallons a day.

But he said the recycling permits should come in late February or March, and called the temporary use of potable water “a good compromise.”

“This makes the wildlife sanctuary happen,” he said.