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The Fight over Elysian Reservoir

By Eric Richardson
Published: Monday, January 22, 2007, at 05:23PM
Elysian Park by Bicycle Eric Richardson []

DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES — It may be that I'm on a one-man quest to push Elysian Park on Downtowners, given that I've now posted not one, or two, but three sets of shots from the park. I really love it up there, and I think more of us Downtown need to go up and take in the sights.

Today's LA Times talks about how DWP in order to satisfy requirements that drinking water supplies not be stored in the open. Apparently plans to cap the body of water have been on the drawing board since 1988, though I have to admit this is the first I'd heard of them.

Eastsiders want the 15-acre Elysian facility converted into a playground and splash park, a proposal officials call a daunting and costly engineering challenge. Stone Canyon residents want to keep their reservoir open, or buried in tanks and landscaped with native shrubs and trees, a job that city officials predict would clog Mulholland Drive's shady winding lanes for years with lumbering trucks and construction equipment.

"We're hoping the Elysian issue will be resolved by the end of the year," said Sallie Neubauer, of the Coalition to Preserve Open Reservoirs, which was created in 1988 after the DWP announced plans to cap Elysian with an aluminum roof.

"Our mission is to see those 15 acres added to adjacent Elysian Park," she said. "It's the backyard of communities such as Lincoln Heights and Boyle Heights, which are crying out for more parklands."

Somehow Downtown doesn't get cited as a neighboring community, but I think this is a fight we need to be involved in as well. Every time I go up into the park I marvel at how such a natural setting can be found just a few miles from the urbanity of Downtown LA. The ride around the reservoir and up to Point Grandview is an important part of that.

I don't personally care about creating a playground in the space where the water is now -- I'd much prefer to see it remain water -- but I think we can all agree that a tarp is no one's idea of a good use for open space.

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Conversation

Guest 1

Benjamin Pezzillo on January 22, 2007, at 08:40PM – #1

Rowena Reservoir (at Rowena and Hyperion in Los Feliz) is an excellent example of an aesthetically pleasing covered, underground reservoir. Some people thought it was such an over-the-top accommodation of nearby residents' desire to maintain an open water look that they took to calling it 'Fantasy Island'. Nevertheless, it proves the point there are options other than tarps when it comes to meeting the need to cover our reserve water supply (a need which has only increased by our desires for counterterrorism).


Guest 2

Phyl van Ammers on September 02, 2007, at 11:31PM – #2

I understand this project is to go through CEQA review. A "no project" alternative is a good idea; that is, what's wrong with leaving the reservoir as it is?

Whose requirements are the regulations that the reservoir be covered? Does anyone have those regulations? State? DWP?

My parents moved from Glassell Park to Silver Lake in 1953, and they said the DWP tried to get it covered since the 1950s, if not before. At first, they said, it was because the Communists were going to poison reservoirs in LA. Then it was that the hippies were going to pour LSD into the reservoir.

My parents were against both Communists and hippies. Nonetheless, they didn't want Silver Lake covered.

Did the DWP lobby state legislators or the feds to get the regulations to cover reservoirs? What alternatives to water treatment are there?


Guest 3

Jonathan on January 09, 2008, at 02:22PM – #3

As a communist and a hippie, I'm offended... man... :)


Guest 3

Cynthia on January 14, 2008, at 01:37PM – #4

If anyone is interested, DWP is having a meeting on Saturday, January 26, 2008, where they will be accepting public comments about the proposed "covering."

I got this information in the mail because I live in Elysian Valley. Anyway, the meeting will start at 10 a.m. with them giving a formal presentation at 11 a.m. at Logan Street Elementary School Cafeteria (1711 W. Montana Street).

Just wanted to get the word out...


Guest 4

jonathan Weston on July 03, 2008, at 01:15AM – #5

Covering or revamping the reservoirs is a very costly project - our money - leave Los Angeles reservoirs alone - they form important parts of neighborhoods and parks - spend some of our money on additional treatment stations for drinking water.


Guest 5

ok yea on July 29, 2008, at 12:27AM – #6

people, the reason they're covering the reservoir is because the chlorine in the water will react with the naturally occuring bromates and would potentially make the water unsafe because bromates are suspected carcinogens and no one wants people to be drinking those



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