This artificial wetland at the newly rehabilitated Echo Park Lake is an example of what could happen at Silver Lake Reservoir. The Conservancy has been exploring long-term options for the Reservoir once it goes off-line (that is, no longer supplies drinking water when the Headworks underground tanks are completed) — this is one of them. The idea would be to turn the Reservoir into a regional watershed management tool, perhaps a place where recycled water could be stored for later use, or where rainwater would be kept so that it could recharge the underground aquifers under the city, rather than drain into the ocean. Wetlands are one way for water to be naturally kept and cleaned — if they don’t occur naturally, they can be recreated, like this one.
News and Events
Silver Lake Reservoir Complex (SLRC) Bypass Project
After many months of speculation, the DWP has gone on record saying that it intends to drain Silver Lake Reservoir in order to lay a pipeline down the middle to take water from Griffith Park to South Los Angeles. Here are two very recent news articles about it from the Los Feliz Ledger and Curbed LA:
Needless to say, the Silver Lake Reservoirs Conservancy is very, very concerned about this alarming development. Here is what our president, Craig Collins, had to say:
“There are several important misstatements in the original Los Feliz Ledger article that need to be corrected. Here are the important ones:
1. Big issues that have not been fully explained or adequately addressed include impacts on the beloved Great Blue Heron Rookery that depends on lake water for breeding, dust from over 100 acres of dry clay-bottomed lake exposed to prevailing winds, and of course the scenic impacts of a dry lake for well over a year. These impacts need to be mitigated properly before the project can commence, and alternatives to complete draining need to be fully evaluated.
2. The original plan as presented in the Environmental Impact Report was to tunnel underneath West Silver Lake Drive and the adjacent hills. This was selected to minimize impacts from open-trench installation, but was rejected for technical reasons and perceived community opposition, and to save costs. It was not due to the Sycamore trees below the dam. However, going through the Reservoir allows the DWP to avoid SOME of the impact in that ‘grassy knoll.’
3. Many residents along West Silver Lake Drive will be surprised to learn that they will have open-trench pipeline work directly in front of their houses; from Armstrong through the length of the northerly Ivanhoe Reservoir.
4. The path will not be diverted into the Reservoir proper, but may divert into part of the property between West Silver Lake Drive and the Lake.
The future of the Reservoirs is yet to be determined. Stay tuned to learn more about that!”
What do YOU think?