Reservoir of Goodwill

A long-running fight over the future of Chatsworth Reservoir edged toward a truce at City Hall on Tuesday as a top official of the Department of Water and Power finally agreed to preserve the land as open space.

For months, Councilman Hal Bernson and DWP board President Rick Caruso have locked horns over the 1,300-acre site, a dry reservoir carpeted with grass, wetlands and oak trees that the city has designated a nature preserve.

Bernson has lobbied for two decades to preserve the land, which is owned by the DWP and he described as the largest undeveloped tract of land remaining in the city. But Caruso has voiced other ideas, including real estate development and athletic fields.

On Tuesday, he gave the council a long-awaited study of options for the site, listing plans ranging from preserving the site as-is to building a massive housing development.

“We understand that there are a lot of passionate feelings about the future of the Chatsworth Reservoir,” Caruso told the council and about 20 homeowners and environmentalists. “We also feel that there are still some areas of the reservoir that could be used for limited recreation and a substantial area . . . that could be preserved,” he said.

After a half hour of preservationist pleas from residents and politicians, however, Caruso backed away from even the “limited recreation” option. He agreed to craft a plan within two weeks for preserving the reservoir and allowing more public access to the gated site, which is now closed except for limited tours.

Bernson helped bury the hatchet as well, gently urging angry residents--many of whom denounced Caruso as untrustworthy--not to engage in personal attacks.

Other council members suggested pursuing state or federal funding to offset the $250,000 the DWP pays to maintain the site each year. Caruso, who has long asserted that the reservoir should be self-sufficient, later said he supported the idea.

Describing flocks of migratory geese sailing overhead and clusters of children enjoying nature walks around the reservoir, several residents appealed to the council to leave the site undeveloped but open to visitors.

“Our city is overwhelmingly large and unconnected with nature,” said Chris Van Schaack, who runs a native-plant nursery in Chatsworth. He said the reservoir should be used to teach children “something about giving back to nature.”

Bernson, a veteran councilman who hopes to leave a protected reservoir as part of his legacy, spoke reverentially about the site’s history. He recalled the modern concrete-lined basin as the spot where the Chumash long ago baked bricks in handmade kilns.

“It is indeed what the city and the San Fernando Valley looked like 200 years ago,” he said.

The hushed tone was in marked contrast to Bernson’s recent outbursts over Caruso’s approach to the reservoir. Caruso had incensed the councilman last year by brushing off a council directive to lease the land to the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy.

From then on, the hostility escalated, with Bernson futilely attempting to derail Caruso’s reappointment last fall. In January, the last time the two were scheduled to square off at City Hall, Caruso called in sick--prompting the irate councilman to publicly accuse him of “stonewalling” and the commissioner to retort that Bernson’s outrage must have been caused by “the pressure of an upcoming reelection.”

Bernson, who said he had not spoken to Caruso since, tried a new tactic this week.

“There’s an old saying that you get more flies with honey than with vinegar,” he said after the meeting, adding he would give Caruso “the benefit of the doubt” that he would produce a preservation plan.

“It sounded like it,” Bernson said. “But we’ll see.”