Fillmore May Have to Demolish Reservoir : Water: A study will determine if the quake damage can be repaired. City is hoping for emergency federal funds.

A 1.5-million-gallon reservoir in Fillmore is in such precarious condition after the January earthquake that the city may have to demolish it, officials have learned.

And though the financially strapped city must go forward with a study to determine if the reservoir can be repaired, there is no guarantee Fillmore will receive emergency federal funds to pay for the repair work or for the study, staff members told the City Council Tuesday night.

Despite the risks, the council unanimously approved a $12,000 study that will determine whether the reservoir can be retrofitted at a cost of $140,000 or replaced at a cost of $2.7 million.

The study should be finished within a month, city staff said. Then, unless the council approves more extensive studies, the city will send the results to the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and wait.

And wait. The funding process can last up to two years, staff members said, during which time the city may be without one of its three reservoirs.

At some point, Fillmore may have to do without two reservoirs, since the city’s oldest reservoir also requires repairs that will shut it down for at least a month, said Bert Rapp, the city’s engineer.

With one reservoir out of commission, the city’s water supply could face a serious shortfall in the event of a devastating fire or a major power outage, Rapp said. With two of the three reservoirs empty, residents might be required to temporarily scale back water use until at least two were operational, he said.

But until FEMA mails those checks, there’s not much the city can do.

“It’s out of our hands,” Rapp told the council. “Our application’s in, along with every other city affected by the disaster, and we’re waiting for them to fund us.”

The city’s reservoirs, known as Reservoirs 1, 2 and 3, hold 5.5 million gallons of water.

Reservoir 1, burrowed deep in the earth, is made of concrete and was built in 1917. The Jan. 17 earthquake opened cracks in the reservoir’s walls and now its 1 million gallons of water are seeping into the surrounding structure, slowly corroding the structure’s steel reinforcements, Rapp said. The reservoir’s roof also sustained about $2 of damage per square foot.

However, because of the problems with Reservoir 2--the one in immediate crisis--the city cannot risk draining the older storage facility.

Reservoir 2, built in 1967 to the 1959 engineering codes, was deemed so unstable after the January quake that it was completely drained. It now sits, like an upside down metal can, on a hill at the north end of Central Avenue.

Reservoir 3, which was constructed in 1991 and holds 3 million gallons of water, weathered the earthquake with no major structural damage.

City staff members say they are reasonably sure FEMA will give them about $700,000 toward the repair and retrofitting of Reservoir 1. Some of that money should arrive in the next few weeks and could go toward repair of basic damages, Rapp said.

But $560,000 of the $700,000 may not be available for two years, Rapp said. When the check does arrive, city staff has suggested that the council could use that money toward replacing the 75-year-old facility.

A city report states that, if Reservoir 2 is filled and another major earthquake occurs, 1.5 million gallons of water could course down the hillside and into the heart of town, endangering lives and property.

The reservoir has several structural problems, including a leaking service line and a foundation whose downhill rim has dropped five inches lower than its uphill rim. Even the empty structure may not be stable, engineers say.

City Councilman Scott Lee said he found that possibility disconcerting.

“Are we in danger now of it falling over?” he asked Glen Hille, an engineer retained by the city to study the issue.

“You’re in less danger now than you were” before the water was drained, Hille said.

The city will keep the reservoir shut down until the study is done, Rapp said.

Rapp said he hopes the study finds that the city can do some initial repairs on the facility so that it will be functional while officials wait for FEMA funds. However, he said there is a good chance the reservoir is beyond even interim repairs.

If that is the case, Rapp said, city officials hope the study makes the situation so dire that FEMA speeds the money as quickly as possible.

“It’s like a black hole,” Rapp said. “You just throw your applications in there.”