The Santa Ynez Reservoir is a reservoir in

Pacific Palisades, Los Angeles Pacific Palisades is a neighborhood in the Westside region of the city of Los Angeles, California, situated about west of downtown Los Angeles. Throughout January 2025, the majority of Pacific Palisades was severely affected and destroyed by ...

, California, U.S. The reservoir covers .

History

A permit for construction of the dam was approved in 1965. The

Los Angeles Department of Water and Power The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) is the largest municipal Public utility, utility in the United States with 8,100 megawatts of electric generating capacity (2021–2022) and delivering an average of 435 million gallons of wat ...

(LADWP) stated that a reservoir was needed to provide additional water supply for domestic and firefighting purposes on the south slope of the Santa Monica mountains. In 1966, a bid for constructing the concrete-lined, compacted-earth reservoir was given to Aetron, a subsidiary of

Aerojet Aerojet was an American rocket and missile propulsion manufacturer based primarily in Rancho Cordova, California, with divisions in Redmond, Washington, Orange and Gainesville in Virginia, and Camden, Arkansas. Aerojet was owned by GenCorp, ...

. The reservoir started being filled in 1970. A 1989 plan to cover the reservoir and others to prevent contamination met local opposition. Area residents believed the cover would attract vandals and be an eyesore. LADWP believed it was needed to keep out animal feces, trash, and chemicals that cause cancer. A new project to cover the reservoir was initiated in the early 2000s in compliance with water quality and treatment requirements. That project was completed in 2012. The reservoir gained notoriety in connection with the 2025 Palisades Fire. It was reported that the reservoir was drained due to concerns of contamination in February 2024 after a tear was found in its cover. According to the LADWP, the delay in repair was due to the lengthy time it takes to find a contractor under the Los Angeles city charter's competitive bidding process. On January 10, 2025, California Governor

Gavin Newsom Gavin Christopher Newsom ( ; born October 10, 1967) is an American politician and businessman serving since 2019 as the 40th governor of California. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served from 2011 to 201 ...

requested the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power and Los Angeles Department of Public Works to cooperate with a state investigation of the matter and conduct their own review.

References

{{Reflist Reservoirs in California Reservoirs in Southern California Reservoirs in Los Angeles County, California

History

See also

References