When three 1-million-gallon capacity water storage tanks in Pacific Palisades went dry Tuesday night, firefighters were forced to abandon efforts to save thousands of homes. LA Department of Water and Power (LADWP) CEO Janisse Quiñones has repeatedly claimed during press conferences that her utility did everything it could to prepare for the forecasted wind event and support the Los Angeles Fire Department as it responded, but left out one key fact: the Santa Ynez Reservoir in the hills above Pacific Palisades, which holds 117 million gallons of water and normally feeds those tanks, had been drained and taken offline for repairs to its cover even though the state’s brush fire season was ongoing.
The LAFD Watchdog Instagram account broke the news Thursday night:
The group wrote:
“The Santa Ynez Reservoir, which holds 117 million gallons of water and supplies three tanks in the Palisades area, was drained for maintenance during brush fire season. While the three tanks, each with a capacity of 1 million gallons, were full at the time of the fire, they were unable to meet the demand without the reservoir to refill them. This reckless decision to take the reservoir offline left firefighters without sufficient water and severely hindered their efforts. DWP CEO Janisse Quiñones has failed to disclose this critical information and instead blamed “extreme demand” on the system. Her lack of transparency and leadership in this preventable failure demands her immediate resignation.”
The Los Angeles Times followed up on LAFD Watchdog’s post and confirmed with LADWP officials that the reservoir had been drained for repairs. The outlet also spoke to a former DWP general manager, Martin Adams, who said that if the reservoir had been online it would have extended water pressure, but that:
“You still would have ended up with serious drops in pressure,” Adams said in an interview Thursday. “Would Santa Ynez [Reservoir] have helped? Yes, to some extent. Would it have saved the day? I don’t think so.”
Officials haven’t said how long the reservoir has been offline, but Adams told the LA Times that it had been empty “for a while” due to a tear in the cover.