Los Angeles Water

The Los Angeles district of the Army Corps of Engineers plans to use its share of federal stimulus dollars to help complete a backlog of projects aimed at improving the local water supply, officials said Wednesday. The new funding includes $6.5 million for delayed repairs and improvements to the Los Angeles County river system, $5.1 million for water recycling and $17.4 million to finish a dredging project to prevent mud-choked Upper Newport Bay from becoming a meadow.

A state regulatory agency Wednesday said the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers failed to obtain a required permit before it removed 43 acres of wildlife habitat in the Sepulveda Basin and filled in a pond used by migrating waterfowl. The Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board has directed the Army Corps to provide information by Feb. 11 about its decision to eliminate woodlands and potentially foul the Los Angeles River with sediment. Sepulveda Basin is an engineered flood control zone for the river.

Despite a meager rainy season this year, Los Angeles residents need not fear a water shortage quite yet, authorities said. Only 7.66 inches of rain fell in the city in the season that ended Tuesday, according to the National Weather Service. The total marks the 10th driest rainy season on record. "We're fine as long as we continue wise water use," said Bob Gomperz, spokesman for the Metropolitan Water District, which supplies 5% to 10% of Los Angeles' water.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger went to a scruffy field in the San Fernando Valley on Friday to sign two pieces of water legislation passed earlier this week. The setting was the Tujunga well field of the San Fernando Valley aquifer, part of Los Angeles' water supply. One of the bills the governor signed establishes a statewide program to measure groundwater elevations. The other adds 25 state enforcement officers to track down illegal water diversions. Schwarzenegger is expected to sign the remaining parts of the water package in the coming days, including an $11.1-billion bond that will go before voters a year from now. Surrounded by state lawmakers and local officials, he informally launched the bond campaign.

You've probably seen a play or two recently, but have you gone backstage to learn how the production was put together? Have you occasionally wondered what goes on at a race track when the horses aren't at the gate? Undoubtedly you've been rattled by an earthquake or two; wouldn't you like to know how they are tracked and recorded? It is possible to get a behind-the-scenes look at these and other activities. Here's just a sampling of opportunities available in the Southland.

It seems the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power is doomed to pay forever for the sins that the city visited on the Owens Valley early this century by taking its water--stealing it, many critics still contend. In the last decade, the department has been forced to give up roughly one-fifth of its Eastern Sierra water to repair environmental damage caused by the Los Angeles water diversion.

With endless miles of asphalt, Los Angeles County has the worst urban runoff problem in the nation. Its severity should dictate adoption of a controversial proposal to help curb the flow of gunk into local bays. Massive amounts of pesticides, metal residue, oily waste and solid garbage flow to the sea in runoff from lawns, parking lots and streets. Storm drains also carry human viruses and bacteria from sewage that can sicken swimmers.

Underground water pipes in Los Angeles have suffered significantly more "major blowouts" in the last three months, officials confirmed Tuesday after analyzing dozens of ruptures, some of which flooded streets, damaged vehicles and buildings and created a sinkhole so big that it almost swallowed a firetruck. And the city's engineers don't know why. It could be fluctuating temperatures. It could be a statistical anomaly. It could be something else. "It's strange," said William Robertson, general manager of the Bureau of Street Services, which repaves the ruined roads after the water recedes.

Those who propose the secession of the San Fernando Valley from the city of Los Angeles overlook a historical point of momentous significance. Why did the residents of the San Fernando Valley vote in 1915 to join Los Angeles, thereby doubling the city's size in one move? The answer is water. In authorizing the withdrawal of federal lands that made possible Los Angeles' construction of the Los Angeles-Owens Valley Aqueduct, Congress required that the water be for the public use of Los Angeles.

Government officials used appeals to altruism and implied threats to urge San Fernando Valley businesses Wednesday to avoid further pollution of the Valley ground-water basin, a key source of drinking water for the cities of Los Angeles, Burbank, Glendale and San Fernando.

The investigation into what could be causing a sharp rise in "major blowouts" of L.A. water mains has expanded to examine whether tectonic activity might be playing a role. The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power has asked scientists at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory for help. As it happened, JPL officials were already examining ground movement in the Los Angeles Basin because of several recent minor earthquakes. Examining the timing and location of the breaks, JPL scientists have noticed "some deviation from the normal range" of ground movement in L.A. in the last 100 days, said Andrea Donnellan, NASA headquarter's program area co-lead for natural disasters, who works at JPL. "We're trying to understand," she said.

Underground water pipes in Los Angeles have suffered significantly more "major blowouts" in the last three months, officials confirmed Tuesday after analyzing dozens of ruptures, some of which flooded streets, damaged vehicles and buildings and created a sinkhole so big that it almost swallowed a firetruck. And the city's engineers don't know why. It could be fluctuating temperatures. It could be a statistical anomaly. It could be something else. "It's strange," said William Robertson, general manager of the Bureau of Street Services, which repaves the ruined roads after the water recedes.

The Maxine Waters Employment Preparation Center, a job-training facility in one of Los Angeles' poorest neighborhoods, is threatened with receiving no federal money at a time of high unemployment -- simply because of its name. The center has become a victim of a move on Capitol Hill to block funding for projects that bear the monikers of sitting lawmakers. "It doesn't seem fair that rich private entities can get funded and this poor school cannot," said Rep.

The Los Angeles district of the Army Corps of Engineers plans to use its share of federal stimulus dollars to help complete a backlog of projects aimed at improving the local water supply, officials said Wednesday. The new funding includes $6.5 million for delayed repairs and improvements to the Los Angeles County river system, $5.1 million for water recycling and $17.4 million to finish a dredging project to prevent mud-choked Upper Newport Bay from becoming a meadow.

Re "Brockovich Warns Panel of 'Poison'," Sept. 16. Andrew Blankstein's well-balanced article brings a critically important issue to our attention. How many of your friends regularly drink L.A. municipal tap water? In my case, none that I can recall. I believe it's because municipal water supplies, nationwide have lost the confidence of the public. I recently received in the mail a very nice booklet from the L.A. Department of Water and Power--their annual report on water quality.

With endless miles of asphalt, Los Angeles County has the worst urban runoff problem in the nation. Its severity should dictate adoption of a controversial proposal to help curb the flow of gunk into local bays. Massive amounts of pesticides, metal residue, oily waste and solid garbage flow to the sea in runoff from lawns, parking lots and streets. Storm drains also carry human viruses and bacteria from sewage that can sicken swimmers.

A series of deadlines were set Tuesday requiring Los Angeles water officials to build three water filtration facilities to serve four reservoirs at a cost of $500 million. The plants will help city water supplies meet state standards for purity, but their construction could cost Department of Water and Power customers an average of $3.20 per month for the next 10 years, starting next July.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger went to a scruffy field in the San Fernando Valley on Friday to sign two pieces of water legislation passed earlier this week. The setting was the Tujunga well field of the San Fernando Valley aquifer, part of Los Angeles' water supply. One of the bills the governor signed establishes a statewide program to measure groundwater elevations. The other adds 25 state enforcement officers to track down illegal water diversions. Schwarzenegger is expected to sign the remaining parts of the water package in the coming days, including an $11.1-billion bond that will go before voters a year from now. Surrounded by state lawmakers and local officials, he informally launched the bond campaign.

The city has taken the first step toward selling its municipal water company for $11.5 million to Covina-based Suburban Water Systems, which plans to cut rates by 15% for four years. City Council members approved the sale Tuesday on a 3-2 vote, with Councilmen Richard Melendez and Ben Wong dissenting. The proposal is expected to be voted on by its 4,200 customers in the Woodside neighborhood in November through a mail-in ballot. Suburban already provides water to 70% of the city.

When the city's oldest water pipelines were installed, William Mulholland was water superintendent, Los Angeles had a population of 450,000 and the aqueduct carrying Owens River water 223 miles from the eastern Sierra had just been built. Today, this 84-year-old section of pipeline is part of 144 miles of old riveted steel pipes throughout the city that the Department of Water and Power plans to replace over the next 20 years, at a cost of $450 million.