ENCINO : DWP Opposes Dual Filtration Plant

A proposal to build a water-filtration plant that would serve both the Encino Reservoir and Stone Canyon Reservoir in Beverly Glen is inadvisable because of high costs and anticipated difficulties in acquiring a site, according to a report recently released by the city.

A draft environmental study that investigated the best site for a filtration plant for Stone Canyon Reservoir recommends, instead, that a filtration plant serving only Stone Canyon be built next to the reservoir. The draft study was completed by the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power last month.

The city is required by the state to filter water in its open-air reservoirs because the water is exposed to the elements and poses risks of waterborne diseases.

Encino residents expressed differing views of how the report affects their struggle to find a location for an Encino Reservoir filtration plant. Some residents say it should be put as close to the reservoir as possible, while many people who live near the reservoir want it farther away.

Gerald A. Silver, president of Homeowners of Encino, said the study appears to support the desirability of on-site filtration plants. “It makes sense to filter the water right at the site,” said Silver, who acknowledged that the study could be seen as a setback for lake neighbors who hope the city will build a filtration plant away from the Encino reservoir.

But Sharon Garapedian, president of the Encino Lake Homeowners Assn., said the study has little import for Encino’s search for a filtration solution. She agrees with the study’s rejection of the proposed site for the joint filtration plant, at the corner of Oxnard Street and Sepulveda Boulevard.