Outrage is boiling over after revelations that the Santa Ynez Reservoir, a critical water source in Pacific Palisades, was empty and offline when a devastating wildfire ripped through the area.
The Los Angeles Times reported that despite the reservoir’s critical role in the city’s water infrastructure, it had been offline for nearly a year.
The Santa Ynez Reservoir, with a capacity of 117 million gallons, could have played a critical role in providing water pressure to firefighters battling the devastating fire that destroyed thousands of homes and buildings in Los Angeles, Santa Monica, and Malibu.
Los Angeles Department of Water and Power’s (DWP) officials claim the reservoir had been offline for “a while” due to a tear in its cover.
Now, incompetent Governor Gavin Newsom has labeled the situation “deeply troubling” and ordered an independent investigation into the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (DWP).
“I am calling for an independent investigation into the loss of water pressure to local fire hydrants and the reported unavailability of water supplies from the Santa Ynez Reservoir. We need answers to ensure this does not happen again and we have every resource available to fight these catastrophic fires,” Newsom wrote on X.
According to the letter sent to DWP:
“From the moment firestorms erupted in Los Angeles County on Tuesday, January 7, it was clear our public infrastructure would be put under tremendous strain. The horrific hurricane-force winds and dry conditions have produced an unprecedented urban-wildlands disaster that has pushed all of our resources to the limits.
The ongoing reports of the loss of water pressure to some local fire hydrants during the fires and the reported unavailability of water supplies from the Santa Ynez Reservoir are deeply troubling to me and to the community. While water supplies from local fire hydrants are not designed to extinguish wildfires over large areas, losing supplies from fire hydrants likely impaired the effort to protect some homes and evacuation corridors.
We need answers to how that happened. Therefore, I have directed state water and firefighting officials to prepare an independent after-incident report examining the causes of lost water supply and water pressure in municipal water systems during the fire events, and to identify measures that local governments can implement to provide adequate water supply for emergency response during future catastrophic events.
I request that LADWP and Los Angeles County officials swiftly prepare a comprehensive review examining their local preparation and response procedures to ensure available water supply for emergencies, and document any causes of the loss of water pressure and unavailability of water supplies. I am requesting you fully and transparently share information and records for the state’s after-incident review.
I offer the full technical capacity of the State for disaster preparation, response, and recovery, as well as to examine local public agency actions throughout this catastrophe and to learn from the lessons of this tragedy.”
NEW: I am calling for an independent investigation into the loss of water pressure to local fire hydrants and the reported unavailability of water supplies from the Santa Ynez Reservoir.
We need answers to ensure this does not happen again and we have every resource available to… pic.twitter.com/R0vq0wwZph
— Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) January 10, 2025
Former DWP General Manager Martin Adams admitted the reservoir could have provided temporary relief.
“Would Santa Ynez [Reservoir] have helped? Yes, to some extent. Would it have saved the day? I don’t think so,” Adams told the LA Times.
DWP Chief Executive Janisse Quiñones acknowledged that the system struggled to maintain water pressure amid unprecedented demand. While officials cited the “intensity” of the fire as a complicating factor, they also admitted that the offline reservoir contributed to diminished pressure in key areas.
The news outlet reported:
The reservoir is one of several operated by DWP across the city, which have a combined capacity of more than 4.1 billion gallons of water. Including aqueduct reservoirs, the city can store more than 91 billion gallons across its vast infrastructure. The Santa Ynez complex, at 117 million gallons, is among several sources of water in the area, including a large pipeline from Stone Canyon and a smaller site, the nearby Palisades Reservoir.
The utility designs the system with redundancies and multiple sources of water. In a statement, the agency said that none of its infrastructural assets failed Tuesday and early Wednesday but that the “intensity” of the fire disrupted the contingencies in place.
[…]
Furious residents have pointed to the lack of water pressure as one factor contributing to the destruction of 5,300 homes and buildings in L.A., Santa Monica and Malibu. Civic leaders like L.A. City Councilmember Traci Park and developer Rick Caruso have pointed to the issue as a sign of poor infrastructure upkeep.
Revelations about the reservoir brought condemnation from the DWP union.
“It’s completely unacceptable that this reservoir was empty for almost a year for minor repairs,” said Gus Corona, business manager of IBEW Local 18, which represents rank-and-file DWP employees. “This work should have been done in-house, and they shouldn’t have depended on a contractor to do it,” adding, “I truly believe it’s something that could have been avoided.”
The Gateway Pundit previously reported that DWP Chief Executive Janisse Quiñones responsible for this simple task of overseeing fire hydrant maintenance is raking in an astonishing $750,000 annually.
In April 2024, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass (D) nominated Janisse Quiñones as the new head of the Department of Water and Power (DWP), with an approved annual salary of $750,000.
This is nearly double the salary of her predecessor, Marty Adams, who only made $447,082 annually.
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