DWP Agrees to Preserve Chatsworth Reservoir

After months of a bureaucratic tug of war, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power has agreed to preserve all of the Chatsworth Reservoir, one of the city’s largest remaining tracts of protected wild land.

In a letter sent Friday to the DWP board, agency general manager S. David Freeman said the agency now wants “preservation of the entire site as a nature preserve.”

“All of the property will remain in its current state,” according to Freeman’s letter.

Last July, Freeman had told the board that the vast majority of the 1,300-acre property would be preserved. That sparked concern among preservationists that the possibility was left open that up to 300 acres of site might be developed with sports fields.

“This is what we have been asking for,” said Ali Sar, a spokesman for Councilman Hal Bernson.

Frank Salas, a DWP spokesman, confirmed that the latest proposal goes further than any other toward a commitment to maintain the reservoir as wild land.

“I think the city fathers have made it clear they want it preserved,” Salas said.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service recently suggested a federal takeover of the property. But Salas said the agency opposes giving the reservoir to the federal government because “we’ve done a pretty good job of preserving it ourselves.”

The reservoir was used by the DWP for water storage from 1919 until 1969, when it was taken out of service.

A year ago, DWP board President Rick Caruso caused a firestorm in the San Fernando Valley with comments that suggested the agency might consider developing the 1,300-acre reservoir with housing, businesses and sports fields.

Preservationists were so concerned that they began a short-lived campaign to oust Caruso.

A follow-up study by the DWP listed seven options, ranging from preservation as a nature area to new housing.

Freeman’s report to the board, which meets Tuesday, says that the department will continue to maintain the reservoir as a nature preserve, while at the same time negotiating with groups, including the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy, that can help oversee the site.

Wendi Gladstone, a member of the San Fernando Valley Audubon Society, praised the action, saying previous proposals might have allowed some development of the property.

“It’s a prized place,” she said.