Unsafe Water Dampens Plan for Center

The visitor center at Pyramid Lake in the Tehachapi Mountains has been in the works for two decades, conceived as an educational monument to the state’s heralded water delivery system.

A $5-million interchange was constructed for easy access from Interstate 5. About $1 million was spent on high-tech computer displays. An exhibit implores visitors to taste “California’s Liquid Gold” from three drinking fountains.

The center was to open June 24, but the ceremony has been called off. The problem is as embarrassing as the facility is grandiose: Officials say its drinking water may be unsafe.

“There could be something in the water that is unhealthful,” said Gary Yamamoto of the state Department of Health Services. “They need to demonstrate to us that the water meets our . . . standards.”

State water officials say the concerns have put off the opening--scheduled for last week and then postponed until June 24--indefinitely. Tests on the center’s water treatment equipment could take 30 to 60 days to determine if it is up to par, the officials said. A huge “Road Closed” sign blocked access to the building Saturday, and a security guard turned away curious passersby.

“Let’s face it, something fell through the cracks,” said John Silveira, deputy director of the state Department of Water Resources, which runs the State Water Project. “I am not going to excuse anything. . . . Right now we are looking at (opening in) late summer or early fall after school starts. If we get it all in line before then, fine, but I don’t want to pressure our people . . . by setting some fictitious opening date.”

Jay Malinowski of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, whose customers picked up 90% of the center’s $7.6-million price tag, described the state’s predicament as somewhat ironic but dismissed it as a minor problem.

Silveira said he “would prefer that this not have happened,” but added that the snafu would not detract from the center’s state-of-the-art educational offerings.

But Patrick Porgans, a Sacramento water consultant who tracks what he calls “Department of Water Resources boondoggles,” said the issue points to the excesses of the facility and the general unaccountability of the State Water Project.

“They should be setting an example,” Porgans said. “Every time the department does something like this, it doesn’t cost them anything--it is the ratepayers who pay. It is time the ratepayers get an understanding of what is really going on.”

But Malinowski said water customers will get their money’s worth from the center, the only one of its kind in Southern California and considered the crown jewel of State Water Project visitor centers. The MWD, the water project’s largest urban customer, has a portion of the 18,500-square-foot building for a display on--of all things--the proper treatment of drinking water.

“It is important that people understand what their investment in the State Water Project achieves,” Malinowski said. “When you look at the size of our budget and the life of the visitor center, it is a good expenditure. People drive up the I-5 and see the California Aqueduct here and there, and I am sure many of them wonder what it is.”

The Vista del Lago Visitor Center sits perched on a ridge overlooking octopus-shaped Pyramid Lake, about 60 miles north of downtown Los Angeles. The lake, filled in 1973, is one of a string of artificial reservoirs created in the 1960s and 1970s to store mountain water from Northern California for cities and farms in the arid south. It is part of the $4-billion State Water Project, which stretches 600 miles and provides water to 20 million Californians and 1.2 million acres of farmland.

The visitor center draws its drinking water from the lake, which also serves as a popular fishing and boating area run by the U.S. Forest Service. Taking drinking water from the lake is not unusual--water agencies throughout Southern California do the same--but health officials complained that the Department of Water Resources did too little to ensure the center’s treated water meets state and federal standards passed two years ago, after the facility had been designed.

Yamamoto said the lake water may contain viruses and parasites, including giardia and cryptosporidia, which contaminated the drinking water supply in Milwaukee this year. The lake water is particularly vulnerable to contamination from agricultural runoff because it is collected in the farming-rich Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, health officials said.

State water officials acknowledged that they may need to upgrade the treatment equipment to comply with water quality regulations, but they objected to characterizations of Pyramid Lake water as dangerous. Charles Keene, a senior staff biologist with the state water department, said all surface water in California--even water collected directly in the mountains--needs to be treated before human consumption.

“Most of our tests show the quality of water in the State Water Project is very good,” Keene said. “We do not have giardia or cryptosporidia.”

Several boaters and anglers at Pyramid Lake on Saturday said they were not surprised to hear that health officials have raised concerns about the lake’s water quality. Scott and Michelle Valliere of Granada Hills said they bring bottled water whenever they visit the lake, and others pointed to the water’s murky color as evidence of possible pollution.

“It wouldn’t surprise me if all of our water is bad--with all the chemicals and what man is doing to the environment,” said Scott Valliere, who has fished at the lake for 15 years.

State water officials said they did not know how much it would cost to redesign the center’s treatment plant, but they may soon discover that other expenses and delays lie ahead. Los Angeles County health official Jack Petralia said he is writing a letter to the state objecting to the center’s sewage disposal system, which consists of huge underground tanks that must be pumped periodically.

“That is not sound public health,” Petralia said.