Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
An Important Reservoir Was Offline When California Fires Began
d8a347b41db1ddee634e2d67d08798c102ef09ac
By The New York Times
Published 3 months ago on
January 14, 2025

The smoldering wreckage of beachfront structures destroyed by the Palisade Fire in Malibu, Calif., on Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025. The threat of more fires propelled by blistering Santa Ana winds hung over southern California on Friday as firefighters battled to contain the raging blazes that have killed at least 10 people and destroyed thousands of structures. (Loren Elliott/The New York Times)

Share

Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

An important reservoir that helps supply water in Pacific Palisades was offline at the time the fires began, officials said Friday, and that shutdown may have contributed to firefighters losing water so early in their fight against the blaze.

The Santa Ynez Reservoir sits within the Palisades and can hold millions of gallons of water. Records show it was recently set to undergo maintenance to the reservoir’s cover.

Ellen Cheng, a spokesperson for the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, said in a statement Friday that the reservoir had been offline when the fires began.

“We are still evaluating what role Santa Ynez being offline would have had on this situation,” she said.

Newsom Said the Lack of Water Is ‘Deeply Troubling’

Gov. Gavin Newsom on Friday called the lack of water “deeply troubling” and ordered an independent report on what happened. He asked the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power to review its procedures and share information with state water and firefighting officials who will conduct the investigation.

“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,” he said.

Water for the Pacific Palisades is fed by a 36-inch line that flows by gravity from the larger Stone Canyon Reservoir, said Marty Adams, a former general manager and chief engineer at the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power. That water line also fills the Santa Ynez Reservoir.

Water from the two reservoirs then sustain the water system for the Pacific Palisades and also pump systems that fill storage tanks that feed higher-elevation homes in the neighborhood. It was unclear whether officials could have brought the reservoir back online before the fire, after forecasters began warning of dangerous wildfire conditions.

Officials have said that storage tanks in the Pacific Palisades area, each holding about 1 million gallons, were filled before the fire but then depleted as so many firefighters tapped into the system at once. The system struggled to refill the tanks in part because so much water was being pulled from the main water line before it could get to the pumps that feed the higher tanks.

Operational Reservoir Would Have Helped

Adams said an operational reservoir would have been helpful initially to more fully feed the water system in the area. But he also said it appeared that that reservoir and the tanks would have eventually been drained in a fire that was consuming so many homes at once. Municipal water systems are generally designed to sustain water loads for much smaller fires than what consumed Pacific Palisades.

Years ago, crews had installed a cover on the Santa Ynez Reservoir. Adams said he heard that the cover had been damaged, and contracting documents from November showed that a company was hired to repair the cover.

Adams said repairs and maintenance for such systems would be normal, as would taking the reservoirs offline. Under normal circumstances, the water system in the area would have continued functioning just fine.

Cheng said officials were still looking into when the reservoir had gone offline.

Janisse Quiñones, CEO and chief engineer at the city’s water department, has said that firefighting operation put immense strain on the system, with four times the normal demand over a 15-hour period.

Traci Park, the Los Angeles City Council member whose district includes Pacific Palisades, had not been made aware that the reservoir was offline, a spokesperson said Friday.

The spokesperson, Pete Brown, said Park and her team had many questions about the water systems and the Santa Ynez Reservoir, and would be seeking more answers about whether it should have been out of commission.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

By Mike Baker and Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs/Loren Elliot
c. 2025 The New York Times Company

RELATED TOPICS:

DON'T MISS

First California EV Mandates Hit Automakers This Year. Most Are Not Even Close

DON'T MISS

Newsom Wants to Bypass Trump Tariffs With Direct CA Trade Deals

DON'T MISS

Markets Plunge With S&P 500 Down 6% and Dow Down 2,200 After China Retaliates

DON'T MISS

Fresno Police Searching for Missing 12-Year-Old Girl

DON'T MISS

Madera Community College Unveils New Multicultural and Veterans Center

DON'T MISS

Fusion Energy Race Is On. Two Local Lawmakers Want California to Lead the Way

DON'T MISS

Saturday’s Spring Fest to Showcase Free, Low-Cost Activities for Fresno Kids

DON'T MISS

LA County Reaches $4 Billion Agreement to Settle Sexual Abuse Claims at Juvenile Facilities

DON'T MISS

Fresno Man Sentenced to 14 Years in Prison for Deadly Marijuana DUI Crash

DON'T MISS

Judge Says US Must Return Maryland Man Who Was Mistakenly Deported to El Salvador Prison

DON'T MISS

These Fresno First-Graders Are Topping Their Peers in Reading

UP NEXT

Markets Plunge With S&P 500 Down 6% and Dow Down 2,200 After China Retaliates

UP NEXT

Fresno Police Searching for Missing 12-Year-Old Girl

UP NEXT

Madera Community College Unveils New Multicultural and Veterans Center

UP NEXT

Fusion Energy Race Is On. Two Local Lawmakers Want California to Lead the Way

UP NEXT

Saturday’s Spring Fest to Showcase Free, Low-Cost Activities for Fresno Kids

UP NEXT

LA County Reaches $4 Billion Agreement to Settle Sexual Abuse Claims at Juvenile Facilities

UP NEXT

Fresno Man Sentenced to 14 Years in Prison for Deadly Marijuana DUI Crash

UP NEXT

Judge Says US Must Return Maryland Man Who Was Mistakenly Deported to El Salvador Prison

UP NEXT

These Fresno First-Graders Are Topping Their Peers in Reading

UP NEXT

Fresno Burial Ceremony to Honor Five Abandoned Babies Set for Saturday

Madera Community College Unveils New Multicultural and Veterans Center

12 hours ago

Fusion Energy Race Is On. Two Local Lawmakers Want California to Lead the Way

12 hours ago

Saturday’s Spring Fest to Showcase Free, Low-Cost Activities for Fresno Kids

13 hours ago

LA County Reaches $4 Billion Agreement to Settle Sexual Abuse Claims at Juvenile Facilities

13 hours ago

Fresno Man Sentenced to 14 Years in Prison for Deadly Marijuana DUI Crash

13 hours ago

Judge Says US Must Return Maryland Man Who Was Mistakenly Deported to El Salvador Prison

13 hours ago

These Fresno First-Graders Are Topping Their Peers in Reading

14 hours ago

Fresno Burial Ceremony to Honor Five Abandoned Babies Set for Saturday

14 hours ago

Visalia Man Arrested for Soliciting Sex From Minor in Kingsburg

15 hours ago

Camalah Saleh Cruises to Win in Stormy Fresno State Student Elections

16 hours ago

Newsom Wants to Bypass Trump Tariffs With Direct CA Trade Deals

Gov. Gavin Newsom on Friday asked exporting countries worldwide to spare California their retaliatory tariffs, saying he plans to pursue dir...

11 hours ago

11 hours ago

Newsom Wants to Bypass Trump Tariffs With Direct CA Trade Deals

Specialist Anthony Matesic works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Friday, April 4, 2025. (AP/Richard Drew)
11 hours ago

Markets Plunge With S&P 500 Down 6% and Dow Down 2,200 After China Retaliates

Fresno police are searching for Unique Hernandez, 12, last seen on Friday, April 4, 2025, near Inyo Street and Maple Avenue, wearing all black clothing and carrying a black backpack. (Fresno PD)
11 hours ago

Fresno Police Searching for Missing 12-Year-Old Girl

12 hours ago

Madera Community College Unveils New Multicultural and Veterans Center

12 hours ago

Fusion Energy Race Is On. Two Local Lawmakers Want California to Lead the Way

13 hours ago

Saturday’s Spring Fest to Showcase Free, Low-Cost Activities for Fresno Kids

13 hours ago

LA County Reaches $4 Billion Agreement to Settle Sexual Abuse Claims at Juvenile Facilities

Antonio de Jesus Orozco Montes Deoca, 30, was sentenced on Friday, March 4, 2025, to 14 years and 8 months in prison for a deadly marijuana DUI crash in 2022 that killed one woman and injured four others. (GV Wire Composite)
13 hours ago

Fresno Man Sentenced to 14 Years in Prison for Deadly Marijuana DUI Crash

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend