The DWP’s Plan for Silver Lake’s Reservoirs

Everyone loves a little harmony, but Times writer Ken Ellingwood may have given your readers an erroneous view of community response to the Department of Water & Power’s plan for Silver Lake and Ivanhoe reservoirs (Times, March 26.) As a Silver Lake resident who has both been involved in and observed the efforts of the Committee to Save Silver Lake’s Reservoirs over the last 3 1/2 years, I can assure you that not everyone came away from the March 23 public meeting with as blithe a view of where things are heading as reporter Ellingwood seems to believe.

Although a lot of time at that meeting was expended attempting to persuade neighborhood residents and interested parties that the mediation process has produced a “new DWP” that is now more sensitive to community needs, the blunt reality is that the DWP has not actually committed itself to preserving Ivanhoe Reservoir as an open reservoir; it has only said that it will “probably” not have to cover Ivanhoe if it is allowed to proceed with its other proposed “improvements” at the site, which include draining and relining the reservoir, construction of a large, new sand-removal facility on the Northeast side and re-piping of water lines.

These extensive and expensive projects, presented by the DWP as a show of cooperation, in fact raise as many questions as reporter Ellingwood suggests they answer, not least of which is whether they are actually needed or economically justified.

Certainly Silver Lake residents, especially those in proximity to Ivanhoe Reservoir, aren’t uniformly happy about the prospect of a minimum of 2 1/2 years of heavy construction in our neighborhood.

RONALD D. SCIBILIA

Los Angeles