The way these systems are set up I don't think it would have made a difference. That water has to go through a treatment facility first, then get pumped into the tanks that create the flow to the municipal connections.
That, and the fact that this fire moved so fast and blew out so many residential and commercial connections that the whole system is going to lose pressure.
Might have made for a dip spot (if it wasn't a covered reservoir like most of the others), but then everyone got grounded because of the winds.
Perfect storm of many alignments. Literally a Dresden scale event.
"The person I spoke with has worked as a senior professional in a California water utility for two decades. The person told Public that the LADWP should never have drained the Santa Ynez reservoir of water. Instead, it should have kept it full for emergency use, and only drained it to repair a torn cover after the fire risk was far lower and after LADWP had a contractor under contract and ready to perform necessary repairs.
“Why wouldn’t they [LA Department of Water and Power] have just isolated the reservoir from the drinking water system when the tear in the cover was detected, to preserve water quality in the drinking water system?” asked the person. “If they did this and left it full until repair work was ready to be completed, this water could have been available on an emergency basis for fire fighting.”
A tear in the reservoir’s cover meant the water inside the reservoir could be contaminated by bird droppings, rainwater, windblown material, or other contaminants, and no longer potable. But having 117 million gallons of non-potable water would have helped douse the fire.
“The Division of Drinking Water, who regulates LADWP’s drinking water-related operations, might have said, ‘You have to take it offline and you can’t have it connected to the system until repairs are made.’ But that doesn’t necessarily mean you have to drain the tank immediately. You may be permitted to physically disconnect it from the community’s drinking water system so it’s not used for drinking water but remains available for emergency uses, like firefighting."
So I think it's probably complicated, and as a long-term bureaucrat but not a fire person, my guess would be that siloing of departments and responsibilities might have had a hand here.
So now we get into the realm of how water is connected. That rez is not connected to the potable trunk line, which powers hydrants. So even if it was full, it still has to go through the treatment facility.
If you look at satellite imagery, there's no treatment plant up there. It's getting filled from the aqueduct system that comes from either the central valley aqueduct or the eastern sierra aqueduct.
So even if it's up there, you're going to have to drive up there, fill a tender from a portable pump, and drive back in.
Fire moved way too fast for any of that.
All this debate about the water distracts from the main issue is that Cali has failed / refused to manage fuel buffers that allowed it to get into the residential areas to begin with.
Thanks for keeping up with this!!!!
Absolutely, thank you for the long time support.
Thanks as always for the level headed updates.
The way these systems are set up I don't think it would have made a difference. That water has to go through a treatment facility first, then get pumped into the tanks that create the flow to the municipal connections.
That, and the fact that this fire moved so fast and blew out so many residential and commercial connections that the whole system is going to lose pressure.
Might have made for a dip spot (if it wasn't a covered reservoir like most of the others), but then everyone got grounded because of the winds.
Perfect storm of many alignments. Literally a Dresden scale event.
Shellenberger spoke to a whistleblower who said..(it might be paywalled but here's the link) https://www.public.news/p/massive-la-water-reservoir-unavailable/
"The person I spoke with has worked as a senior professional in a California water utility for two decades. The person told Public that the LADWP should never have drained the Santa Ynez reservoir of water. Instead, it should have kept it full for emergency use, and only drained it to repair a torn cover after the fire risk was far lower and after LADWP had a contractor under contract and ready to perform necessary repairs.
“Why wouldn’t they [LA Department of Water and Power] have just isolated the reservoir from the drinking water system when the tear in the cover was detected, to preserve water quality in the drinking water system?” asked the person. “If they did this and left it full until repair work was ready to be completed, this water could have been available on an emergency basis for fire fighting.”
A tear in the reservoir’s cover meant the water inside the reservoir could be contaminated by bird droppings, rainwater, windblown material, or other contaminants, and no longer potable. But having 117 million gallons of non-potable water would have helped douse the fire.
“The Division of Drinking Water, who regulates LADWP’s drinking water-related operations, might have said, ‘You have to take it offline and you can’t have it connected to the system until repairs are made.’ But that doesn’t necessarily mean you have to drain the tank immediately. You may be permitted to physically disconnect it from the community’s drinking water system so it’s not used for drinking water but remains available for emergency uses, like firefighting."
So I think it's probably complicated, and as a long-term bureaucrat but not a fire person, my guess would be that siloing of departments and responsibilities might have had a hand here.
Yes, I follow Schellenberger.
So now we get into the realm of how water is connected. That rez is not connected to the potable trunk line, which powers hydrants. So even if it was full, it still has to go through the treatment facility.
If you look at satellite imagery, there's no treatment plant up there. It's getting filled from the aqueduct system that comes from either the central valley aqueduct or the eastern sierra aqueduct.
So even if it's up there, you're going to have to drive up there, fill a tender from a portable pump, and drive back in.
Fire moved way too fast for any of that.
All this debate about the water distracts from the main issue is that Cali has failed / refused to manage fuel buffers that allowed it to get into the residential areas to begin with.