In 1988, the DWP made it known that, in order to comply with the Federal & State Surface Water Treatment Rules; they would cover all smaller reservoirs and build filtration plants at all large ones. DWP began a series of meetings with representatives of property owner associations surrounding Upper and Lower Hollywood, Encino, and Upper and Lower Stone Canyon Reservoirs. In the case of Lower Stone, the Department informed Bel-Air Association then President Milton Miller that it must construct a thirteen-acre filtration plant below the dam, within 100' of Stone Canyon Road residences. The DWP planned to start construction within five months. All the affected communities banded together to form the Coalition to Preserve Open Reservoirs (CPOR) and, by 1990, had prevailed upon the City Council to mandate a mediation process. Milton Miller and our next President, Lee Abbott, attended numerous meetings until turning the reins over to Director Brian Studwell in 1993. All told, the negotiations and the mediation have lasted sixteen years. Afinal plan was approved in 2003; construction started in January 2004 and is expected to conclude December 2006. Instead of a thirteen-acre industrial plant, what will we get? A 20,000 square foot membrane filtration/pumping facility that will be partially underground,amoeba-like in shape to preserve significant trees, having a flat landscaped roof, and no windows. Great pains have been taken to eliminate any odors and noise, and access during construction will only be from Mulholland Drive. The project is expected to cost $65 to 70 million and will be capable of treating 6.5 million gallons of water per day. Although most of the water served to DWP’s 400,000 customers from this facility will come from the Sylmar treatment plant, bypassing the reservoir by pipeline, the reservoir/lake will be maintained at current levels for emergency uses and lake aesthetics. The Association's goal during these negotiations was to take advantage of this opportunity to return the visible parts of the property to their original state as much as possible. In addition to removing all of the existing structures near the road and all the visible utility poles, the project includes plans for a new entry gate commensurate in design with a Bel-Air estate. As a result of 9/11, the DWP has undertaken an enhanced safety project including our reservoir. Originally they intended to install a 9 foot chain-link fence topped with razor wire around the entire perimeter. Your representative has fought hard to get a mitigated alternative – a matte black, three strand 6 foot “cattle” fence in all visible areas, allowing the proposed security fence in mostly unseen areas which closely protect the structures and water areas.
We encourage residents to visit the project website to learn more about the impacts, see progress reports and photos, and get bulletins on special activities. If you have questions regarding how we mitigated the impacts of the project, its worth clicking on the link in the website labeled “Mitigation Monitoring Program” which shows up on the Community Outreachpage. Should you have any complaints, feel free to call the project Hotline 213-367-0848 or email the Project Manager kurt.wells@ladwp.com. Directors of the Bel-Air Association, through their tireless dedication to Bel-Air, have protected our community from a monstrous industrial facility and, instead, won for us a beautification of the Stone Canyon Reservoir interface. |
Stone Canyon Reservoir |
