Lake Using Reclaimed Water Dedicated : Sepulveda Basin: The 11-acre site will sustain migratory birds and other wildlife. The city has been under pressure to tap into treated effluent when possible.

An 11-acre lake in Sepulveda Basin that will sustain migratory birds and other wildlife was dedicated Monday.

The ceremony marked the first major use of reclaimed water from the Tillman Water Reclamation Plant just north of the wildlife sanctuary.

Those attending the lakeside dedication included Mayor Tom Bradley and City Councilwoman Joy Picus. She called it “fabulous” to have a “wildlife refuge in the middle of a city of 3.5 million people.”

The lake, which is five feet deep and has a one-acre island in the middle, is the centerpiece of a 108-acre swath of grasslands and wetlands near the junction of the San Diego Freeway and Burbank Boulevard at the southeast corner of Sepulveda Basin.

Twice in the past the lake was temporarily filled with potable water while city and state water quality officials worked out plans for using Tillman effluent as a permanent source of water for the lake.

The city has been under pressure from state officials to stretch its water supplies by substituting the highly treated effluent for potable water where possible. City officials agreed to seek uses for the reclaimed water in return for millions of dollars in state and federal grants to build Tillman.

When officials turned on the spigot Friday--allowing 13 million gallons to flow into the lake--it marked the first major use of reclaimed water from the plant.

About 4.7 million gallons of water will be piped from Tillman each day to maintain the lake’s water quality, said Dick Ginevan, chief park supervisor in the San Fernando Valley for the Los Angeles Department of Recreation and Parks.

The lake will discharge into Haskell Creek, which flows near its western edge before emptying into the Los Angeles River. In addition, another 1.8 million gallons of Tillman effluent will be pumped directly into the creek to create additional habitat and a physical barrier between the sanctuary and the rest of the basin.

Officials said they will drain the lake in summer, when mosquitoes breed in standing water.

The lake originally was completed in 1989 with nearly $500,000 from the state Wildlife Conservation Board, a branch of the Department of Fish and Game. The lake was finally ready for reclaimed water when a drainage problem was fixed more than 1 1/2 years ago.

But haggling between the city and the Regional Water Quality Control Board over a management plan for the lake delayed issuance of a permit until recently. As a temporary measure, potable water was pumped into the lake twice in 1990.

The water quality board was “anxious to see them use the reclaimed water,” said J. Michael Lyons, an official with the agency. But “we weren’t going to let them put reclaimed water in here if it looked like it was going to cause a problem” for the Los Angeles River, he said.

During Monday’s dedication, a hawk and a turkey vulture glided overhead, and pairs of mating dragonflies buzzed over the surface of the lake, which mirrored the tops of distant buildings.

However, no geese or ducks could be seen paddling on the lake, which is expected to receive thousands of these visitors during the winter. Bird experts attending the ceremony noted that the lake had just been filled.

Bill Principe, a vice president of the Los Angeles Audubon Society, said the group expects the sanctuary to become “a premier environmental and educational facility,” as well as an important habitat for wildlife.

Last spring, city prosecutors gave the group $82,500 to spend on the refuge from a fine paid for environmental violations.

Principe said the Audubon Society has yet to determine whether to spend the money to improve habitat or for interpretive or educational programs for schoolchildren.

In the meantime, Principe said, “that money is sitting there earning interest, and we are pledged to use it in this basin for this community.”