Palisades community in fear as Santa Ynez Reservoir that was empty during fires needs to be drained again

PACIFIC PALISADES, LOS ANGELES () — The reservoir that was empty during the Palisades Fire, which sparked major backlash, needs to be drained again.

This time backups are in place.

As we near the one-year anniversary of the wildfire, it’s reigniting fears in the community.

It was the center of controversy almost a year ago.

The Santa Ynez Reservoir in Pacific Palisades was offline when the fires started. It is a critical reservoir for firefighting efforts.

“We don’t know what’s going to happen in the next month, next week or as far as the weather,” says Pacific Palisades resident Sandy Flick.

“My frustration level, like my constituents in the Palisades, is absolutely through the roof over this,” said Los Angeles City Councilmember Traci Park.

The reservoir has a capacity of 117 million gallons of water, but it was closed for repairs during the Palisades Fire.

A report, however, found that even if the reservoir was full at the time of the fires, the system would have been quickly overwhelmed.

Water is now back in the reservoir, but officials say they found tears in the cover that need to be fixed.

A notice of the project filed by the LADWP says the reservoir has to be drained and taken out of service to replace the damaged floating cover.

“These permeable covers do not seem to hold up to wear and tear, so the long-term solution is going to be a concrete cover on it,” said Park, who adds that would be years away.

For now, the LADWP’s application says there would be an alternative water supply to the Palisades in place before the reservoir is taken offline.

It would be a six-mile high-pressure hose from a tank in Topanga.

Some residents we spoke with say it’s all a bit disturbing.

“And now the delays, you know, it’s really a sad set of circumstances,” says Flick.

“It’s almost fire season; we don’t know when Santa Ana’s are going to kick in in the coming months. We need something; we need water,” said Pacific Palisades resident Maryam Marques.

The LADWP sent 7 a statement that says in part that it is “…working closely with city partners, including the Los Angeles Fire Department, to ensure redundant water supplies are available throughout the replacement project. Proactively replacing the cover is an important interim step to avoid unexpected tears to the repaired cover that could force the reservoir out of service.”

For now, the reservoir is online. The LADWP estimates the repair could take nine months.