The Los Angeles Department of Water & Power is moving forward with plans to cover the Santa Ynez Reservoir, which provides water for domestic use and fire fighting in Pacific Palisades. DWP is planning to cover the 9.2-acre reservoir in the Highlands and switch disinfectants from chlorine to chloramine to meet two new rules established by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The city will open bidding on a construction contract for the project today. Work is scheduled to begin in October 2009 and finish by August 2011. The anticipated cost is between $18 million and $22 million, paid for by revenue received from water usage, said Paul Rugar, DWP project manager. The DWP initially informed the community about the project in 2002 and had planned to have it complete by 2006. ‘However, when the EPA finally promulgated the water-quality regulations in December 2005, significant changes were made to the deadlines,’ Rugar said. ‘The department altered the timeline for constructing the Santa Ynez Reservoir Floating Cover Project as a result. This project is on track to be completed in time to comply with these new regulatory deadlines [by 2012].’ The goal of the EPA’s new rules (Stage 2 Disinfectants and Disinfection Byproduct Rule and Long-Term 2 Enhanced Surface Water Treatment Rule) is to make our drinking water safer. The DWP will switch from chlorine to chloramines to reduce the amount of disinfectant byproducts such as trihalomethanes and haloacetic acids in the drinking water. These byproducts can cause cancer and reproductive and developmental health risks when consumed in excess over many years. The reservoir is being covered to strengthen protection against microbial contaminants, especially Cryptosporidium, which can cause gastrointestinal illness. ‘Also, chloramines break down faster in uncovered reservoirs, which results in algae blooms,’ Rugar said. ‘Covering the reservoir prevents this from occurring.’ DWP representatives started meeting with a committee of Pacific Palisades residents in 2002 and devised a landscape master plan for the project area. A part of the debate was selecting a cover that would blend into the landscape. DWP had initially planned to cover the reservoir with an aluminum roof. ‘We went over every aspect of this,’ said Paul Glasgall, who served on the committee and is former chairman of the Highlands Presidents’ Council. ‘We didn’t realize how far-reaching this project was. We met every month, taking time off from our jobs, for 1′ years.’ The group agreed on a landscape plan in 2003, deciding on a green-and’black-streaked floating cover. The helipad, debris retention basin, access road and service road along the perimeter will be surfaced with a darker color to visually blend with the adjacent reservoir cover. To prepare for the project, DWP has already constructed a new cistern at Pacific Palisades Reservoir (on upper Chautauqua) for the L.A. Fire Department’s large helicopters to use for fighting brush fires. ‘Once the floating cover is in place, these helicopters will no longer be able to dip their snorkel into the Santa Ynez Reservoir, but will instead have to use the cistern at Pacific Palisades Reservoir,’ Rugar said. ‘However, the smaller choppers will still be able to land at Santa Ynez Reservoir and use the fire hydrants to fill their tanks.’ DWP has also constructed two pressure-regulating stations at Avenida de Santa Ynez and at the intersection of Romany and Almalfi ‘to improve system reliability in the service area and to facilitate the removal of Santa Ynez Reservoir from service for a prolonged period of time,’ Rugar said. Construction on the reservoir will be done in two six-month phases in the winter when the weather is cooler and the demand for water is reduced. On October 1, 2009, DWP will begin draining the water from the reservoir, which will take one month. Construction will begin in November and last until May 1, 2010. The reservoir will then be refilled until October 1. At that time, the reservoir will be drained again and construction will resume until May 1, 2011. The landscaping will be the final touch and should be completed by August 2011, Rugar said.
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