SUPERVISOR HORVATH CALLS FOR ACCELERATING AND REVIEWING WATERWORKS DISTRICT 29 PROJECTS
LOS ANGELES, CA – Today, Los Angeles County Supervisor Lindsey P. Horvath submitted a motion for the January 28 meeting of the Board of Supervisors calling for a performance review of Los Angeles County Waterworks District 29 during the Palisades Fire. The motion also calls for the tools necessary to accelerate planned water hardening and modernization projects for the Waterworks District 29, which is the water utility provider for the City of Malibu and unincorporated areas of the Santa Monica Mountains, including Topanga Canyon and Sunset Mesa.
“The Santa Monica Mountains and coastal communities I represent deserve a full accounting of how our water system performed during the unprecedented Palisades Fire,” said Supervisor Lindsey P. Horvath. “Safe, clean, and reliable water is a basic need that requires our continued investment. We must invest in and enhance our infrastructure, preventing all obstacles to a water resilient future. I will continue to move with urgency to secure the resources we need to complete these essential projects.”
The motion includes the following directives:
- Progress of retaining a consultant to review and prepare an independent after-action report on performance issues, if any, that have arisen in connection with Waterworks District 29 facilities and operations during the Palisades Fire.
- Identification of any system improvements (capital projects, system hardening, interconnections, and protocols) referenced in the Waterworks District 29 capital plan, Woolsey Fire After Action report, and the 2013 Waterworks District 29 “master plan”. For each item referenced in the master plan, include the project rationale, prioritization, relation to fire suppression, approval status for each government entity, originally planned project timeline, and specify whether the implementation of the project was delayed and, if so, the reasons for delays in project delivery.
- Description of The District’s funding streams, funding allocated for ongoing projects, future upgrades, maintenance and operations, and future funding needs; and
- Identification of any administrative, environmental, and permitting challenges that may have delayed or inhibited project delivery, as well as recommendations for local, state, or federal reforms or regulatory streamlining to accelerate these resiliency investments.
Since being elected to serve Los Angeles County’s Third District, Supervisor Horvath has made water resiliency a top priority. She championed the Los Angeles County Water Plan, and accelerated nearly $15 million in projects over the last two years, with another more than $30 million in Waterworks District 29 projects in the design and construction phase.