Advertisement

Law Keeps Reservoir Off Limits : ‘No Swimming’ Signs to Stay

Times Staff Writer

The Bouquet Canyon Reservoir in the mountains above Saugus won’t be opened for recreation, even though body contact from swimmers and water-skiers might not harm water quality, Los Angeles Department of Water and Power officials said.

Although the reservoir has always been closed to the public, officials conducted a pilot program last year with an eye toward eventually opening it for water sports if test results proved favorable.

The preliminary results determined that swimming and boating probably would not contaminate the water. But the department halted plans for further testing when the state Department of Health Services said state law prohibits swimming in reservoirs that hold water later used for drinking.

Advertisement

“The pilot study indicated it was worth looking into for further study,” said LaVal Lund, engineer for the Los Angeles Aqueduct. “But we recognize we’re under the jurisdiction of the state.”

The health department had given the DWP temporary permission to open the eastern portion of the 3-square-mile reservoir for summer water-skiing classes conducted by Cal State Northridge last year. During that time, the department sampled the water for viruses and bacteria that might have come from body contact.

“We made a very extensive monitoring. It showed there was very little effect on water quality,” Lund said.

Advertisement

In November, however, the Department of Health Services learned from its legal affairs department that swimming is prohibited in reservoirs that hold water later used for drinking, said Tim Gannon, regional engineer for the public water supply branch.

Officials then informed the DWP--two months after the CSUN classes had finished--that it could not allow swimmers in the reservoir.

“Right now the law says that we can’t even consider it,” Gannon said.

The reservoir, on rural Bouquet Canyon Road 23 miles northeast of the intersection of the Golden State and Antelope Valley freeways, holds water piped in through the Los Angeles Aqueduct from the Owens River Valley for use in Los Angeles.

Advertisement

The water flows for treatment to the Los Angeles Aqueduct Filtration Plant near the Los Angeles Reservoir in the department’s Van Norman Dam complex in Sylmar before it goes to the public.

Officials said the decision to keep the lake closed to the public will not affect residents because there is no pressing need for recreational facilities in the area.

“We already have Castaic Lake, Pyramid Lake, and Piru,” said Karen Grant, recreation manager for the Los Angeles County Department of Parks and Recreation in Newhall. “I think we already have enough dedicated to water sports.”

But, Lund said, if the reservoir were open to the public, it probably would be popular. “Southern California is a semiarid desert, and any kind of lakes or rivers are desirable,” he said.

Gannon said the DWP requested the permit for recreational uses at the reservoir in a hurry and that the health department did not check with its legal department until after the CSUN class had ended last year. “It was a matter of not being sure before we started the pilot program,” he said.

Advertisement