117-million gallon reservoir in Palisades remains out of service after new leaks found

PACIFIC PALISADES, LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- Reservoirs play an essential part of wildfire containment in Southern California, but months after the Eaton and Palisades fires, one critical reservoir remains out of service.

The Santa Ynez Reservoir in Pacific Palisades has a capacity of holding 117 million gallons of water, but it was closed for repairs during the Palisades Fire.

There's now water back in the reservoir, but it's not where it's supposed to be. It's on top of the cover rather than underneath it thanks to additional small tears and pinhole-sized leaks that the company doing repairs missed.

RELATED: Why was 117-million-gallon capacity reservoir not used during Palisades firefight?

Leaks were identified recently by the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power while the reservoir was being re-filled.

"I'm not going to tell a person who lost their home in the Palisades that it wouldn't have made a difference," said Gus Corona, the business manager of the union representing LADWP employees.

Three and half months since the Palisades Fire destroyed nearly 7,000 structures and killed 12 people, the reservoir in the hills of Pacific Palisades remains out of service because of the new leaks.

"Unfortunately, they are going to have to drain it again, and that is going to take a couple of weeks to release the water that's in there and get those repairs made to the cover," said L.A. City Councilwoman Traci Park, who represents Pacific Palisades. "I know that is frustrating. I am frustrated as well."

Corona says LADWP knows the Santa Ynez Reservoir is critical to Pacific Palisades.

"They're supposed to have everything in place prior to them draining it. The contract, the material ready to go so that the drainage is minimal," Corona said. "Why weren't the people that didn't get this reservoir up and running quickly being held responsible. You got water management. You got the general manager."

The reservoir being offline at the time of the Palisades Fire has prompted multiple lawsuits against LADWP and numerous investigations, including one ordered by Gov. Gavin Newsom.

In January 2024, LADWP noticed a tear in the floating cover after heavy rains, which is when it was taken offline.

What was estimated to cost $89,000 was subject to the city charter's competitive bidding process - even though it was a single-source contract. That meant the company that installed the cover back in 2012, Layfield Group, was the only one who could do the repairs and the only bid that came in.

It wasn't until November 2024, nine months later, that the contract was finalized for about $130,000. The total cost of repairs grew to roughly $261,000 in February of this year.

Eyewitness News was granted access to the reservoir by LADWP to observe the repairs last month.

"They basically sat on it, and they failed to do what they're supposed to do based on their own policies," Corona said.

In a statement, LADWP called it troubling that the outside contractor didn't detect the leaks after they finished their repairs. The agency said the "development is a frustrating setback" and is working as quickly as possible to return the Palisades reservoir to service.

LADWP hopes to refill the reservoir by mid-to-late June and is looking at alternatives to replace the floating cover.