January 11, 2025

"A large reservoir in Pacific Palisades that is part of the Los Angeles water supply system was out of commission when a ferocious wildfire destroyed thousands of homes and other structures nearby..."

"... the Los Angeles Times found," in "State to probe why Pacific Palisades reservoir was offline, empty when firestorm exploded" (L.A. Times).
Officials said that the Santa Ynez Reservoir had been closed since about February for repairs to its cover, leaving a 117-million-gallon water storage complex empty in the heart of the Palisades for nearly a year. The revelation comes amid growing questions about why firefighters ran out of water while battling the blaze, which ignited Tuesday during catastrophically high winds.... 
Emptying of the reservoir began in February after a tear in the floating cover measuring several feet allowed debris, bird droppings and other objects to enter the water supply. [The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power] drained the site to avoid contamination and comply with water regulations. DWP sought bids for the repair in April, at a cost of up to $89,000. In November, the utility signed off on a contract with a Lakeside firm for about $130,000, records show. The status of the repairs is unclear. The DWP’s employee union leader condemned the months-long wait to restore the reservoir.

“It’s completely unacceptable that this reservoir was empty for almost a year for minor repairs,” Gus Corona, business manager of IBEW Local 18, said in an interview with The Times. “This work should have been done in-house, and they shouldn’t have depended on a contractor to do it,” he said. “I truly believe it’s something that could have been avoided.”...

122 comments:

gilbar said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Dave Begley said...

This is just one reason why Bass and Newsom must be recalled from office. The buck has to stop somewhere. Clean house. Drain the swamp. End one-party rule.

Iman said...

Lying MFers?

“For those wondering how long the Santa Ynez Reservoir has been empty the answer is June 2009. Go to Google Earth and locate Santa Ynez. There's a slider top left allowing you to scroll through historic satellite imagery which I marked with a yellow rectangle.”

https://x.com/wretchardthecat/status/1877844625349542046?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1877844625349542046%7Ctwgr%5Eeb43bc184c7b4e7968ef8f2da571067ed22bb3a6%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Finstapundit.com%2F695457%2F

Original Mike said...

"Emptying of the reservoir began in February after a tear in the floating cover measuring several feet allowed debris, bird droppings and other objects to enter the water supply."

They couldn't have put a tarp over the tear until they were all set to do the repair?

rehajm said...

Go quickly and look before Google ‘fixes’ it.

Wince said...

Emptying of the reservoir began in February after a tear in the floating cover measuring several feet allowed debris, bird droppings and other objects to enter the water supply. [The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power] drained the site to avoid contamination and comply with water regulations.

We have the video!

JAORE said...

"Officials said that the Santa Ynez Reservoir had been closed since about February for repairs to its cover, leaving a 117-million-gallon water storage complex empty in the heart of the Palisades for nearly a year. "
Why what a terrible LIE. The CNN "fact checker" said all the reservoirs are full and there is NO water shortage. (Be sure to listen to CNN for the straight facts /sarc.)
Goes right along with California Governor Nero's statements complaining about misinformation (i.e. anything that makes him look bad).

Sella Turcica said...

Why does it have to be covered in the first place? Boston’s water comes from the Quabbin Reservoir, a huge man-made lake in central Massachusetts.

Tom T. said...

The reservoir was drained ten months ago. This time of year isn't typically the most prone to wildfires anyway, I don't think. There's always some big event in the French Quarter, and otherwise people would be asking, why were they down during the Super Bowl / Mardi Gras / St. Patrick's Day / Fourth of July / Halloween. It's fair to question how long the repairs take, but there's never a trouble-free time to take down an important system.

Wince said...

They are saying the Google maps images going back show the cover not an empty reservoir lining.

Dr Weevil said...

Wretchard (Richard Fernandez) corrected himself in a later tweet. It has not been dry continuously since 2009: what looked to him like a dry reservoir was in some cases full of water, but looked dry because of the cover (tarp?) over it. It has been dry off and on since 2009, and apparently (see other comments here) for nearly a year before this fire.

Breezy said...

I was going to say the same thing... Since when do reservoirs require covers? Is this just another grift?

Goldenpause said...

Elections have consequences. Californians got exactly what they voted for. I doubt many of them have learned from this experience.

Goldenpause said...

Elections have consequences. Californians got exactly what they voted for. I doubt many of them have learned from this experience.

Lem Vibe Bandit said...

‘It gets worse’ is the theme of the day.

Dr Weevil said...

I imagine Boston has some kind of water purification plant between the Quabbin Reservoir and Bostonians' taps. If LA purified the water first, then put it in the reservoir, they would need to keep it clean.

Kevin said...

"I don't know how the water gets to the hydrants." -- LA Fire Chief

Peachy said...

Pay tons of money - and don't get it done.
It's the Democratical way.

Eric the Fruit Bat said...

For want of a strip of duct tape, the kingdom was lost.

Peachy said...

Again- the left care more about Green New Fraud - than people.
While modern and intelligent nations are building infrastructure - the American Soviet-Maddow-Democratic left are letting it all rot.

BUT democrats happy to bilk tax payers for billions to Ukriane and hundreds of millions to illegals.

narciso said...

If only there was some one who could have informed us about that

Wince said...

If LA purified the water first, then put it in the reservoir, they would need to keep it clean.

"Then on the morrow, you shall receive your purification."

Peachy said...

hahahahaha a

Jimmy said...

Most reservoirs use floating covers to stop evaporation. Thats been done for decades. What is a surprise to the MSM, and the left, is that it being empty is a big deal.
When you promote people based on color, race, ideology, etc etc, this is what you get.
This is not surprising at all. This is the natural result of leftist policies. And the response by those vile people is also typical. they refuse to take responsibility for any of it. Its climate change, its Trump, its someone else.
The conditions for this disaster were known in advance. And just like here on Maui, the leftists in charge did nothing to prepare for it.
Preparation, competent leadership, would have made this fire less of a disaster.
DEI, CRT, and the other university lounge theories are responsible. And the MSM, and the rest of the left, are doing cartwheels to cover it up.

Aggie said...

Unasked question: Why so long to simply fix a tear in the cover?

Political Junkie said...

I don't know how this will all turn out, but I can make a case for how this hurts Dems in CA. Maybe the Ds stay in power, as they have supermajorities now, but if Rs can just run on competence they have to gain seats.

Wince said...

It's actually sad to see Mel Gibson's face there in the dark after the inquisitor says "purified by pain."

Political Junkie said...

That is shocking. Can't believe the Fire Chief said it.

Peachy said...

Poppy Biden! Help Me poppy Biden - people want to hold me accountable. How dare they! Can't they see how pretty I am - how amazing I am. Just look at my hair. We must stop this mis-information! Nothing is my fault!
LOL. OMG - the whining.

Narayanan said...

Clean house. Drain the swamp
=================================
what irony
fire cleans everything
swamp /reservoir\ already drained

Yancey Ward said...

I was wondering if anyone would post that.

Don B. said...

Didn't we used to have a commenter called "Jane(?) the actuary?" Did none of these uninsured homeowners have mortgages? How else could this be possible?

Yancey Ward said...

Newsom and Bass are making Joe Biden look competent.

Yancey Ward said...

This isn't all that far from the truth just based on what Newsom has said in the last few days.

DJ99 said...

A few leaves and one or two bird droppings in a 117 million gallon body of water does nothing at all to its drinkability. "Several Feet" means maybe 40 inches. That is so pathetically small. That should merit only a work order to your Maintenance Department, with an estimate of 4 hours to complete. Absolute bureaucratic insanity.

The Cracker Emcee Refulgent said...

Investigate and excuse.

Peachy said...

F*ed on the way out.
JUST IN: Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas says that around 600,000 Venezuelans and 200,000 Salvadorans can legally remain in the U.S. for another 18 months.

Priorities.

narciso said...

https://x.com/WallStreetApes/status/1878122931387281904 like the puzzlebox in hellraiser

narciso said...

https://x.com/htnt3888/status/1877186211065839734 i'm reminded of the luther plot in the original superman movie

narciso said...

was it mere incompetence, or something more,

NorthOfTheOneOhOne said...

Plenty of them have mortgages, but the insurance cancellation was so widespread that the lender's would have to be nuts to foreclose on thousands of homes that they couldn't resell or insure.

alfromchgo said...

I left Chicago six years ago, Iam going to call my daughter and son-in law and find out if they have put a tarp over lake Michigan since I left.

Iman said...

They don’t cover the sources of drinking water, what’s so special about this site?

rhhardin said...

Everybody's out for scapegoats. Look for a system study first, what are the tradeoffs, etc.

Christopher B said...

Reading some various comments on the Instapundit post that linked to Wretchard's original post, (https://instapundit.com/695406/), it appears that the reservoir was originally built without a cover (the 2009 photos) but one was mandated by EPA water quality regulations and added about 2011. I've read it was to keep excessive contaminates out of the water in the reservoir so it sounds like treatment was done after collection.

Jupiter said...

Plus, the lender would have to know the insurance was cancelled. You need insurance to get a mortgage, but not to keep it.

Jupiter said...

You mean, like, in Maui?

reader said...

I have lived in California my entire life. I have had to evacuate during a wildfire, luckily my home survived. I feel badly for all of the people who have lost their homes and been displaced. My sympathy goes out to the families and friends of those who died.

But there is a definite part of me (that started during covid) that wants to say to people who are complaining...

If you voted in the last (or the last 2,5,8,12,15...) election cycle(s) and the party you voted for has won and is in the majority in California I don't want to hear you whine. You are getting EXACTLY what you voted for. The incompetence of California's leadership and its misplaced priorities have been on display time and time again and the voters have had numerous opportunities for a course correction and refused to take it.

narciso said...

https://beverlypress.com/2024/04/bass-convenes-conference-focusing-on-government-ethics/ note the venue

Enigma said...

Biden's back room people are doing all sorts of similar things, but most will be undone too. There are ways to work around stuff like this. Congress will not authorize any support money (next year's first budget draft will be eye-popping for its dramatic changes). No housing. No food. No eviction blockages. The blue states will not have pass-through "COVID emergency" funds, and they will face a huge financial squeeze (i.e., Trump's SALT rules will remain).

Trump will offer free transit home for nominal legals, or otherwise make the tropics seem much more appealing than an unfunded life in places with a true winter.

Aggie said...

Maybe the EPA demanded that they empty the reservoir to prevent ash contamination.

narciso said...

and valencia and barcelona in spain, everytime there is an event they blame on cliimate change, criminal negligence, with the dams the reservoirs, the clear cutting is as much involved,

Former Illinois resident said...

Reservoir was EMPTY, not just "unavailable". Bass and Newsom should be held personally accountable for their incompetence and blatant neglect of fundamental protection of health, safety, and welfare of their taxpaying constituents. Mayor Bass herself should be arrested for involuntary manslaughter and willful destruction of private property, and resign immediately..

loudogblog said...

"As raging wildfires burnt down more than 10,000 homes and buildings in the Los Angeles area with no relief in sight, reports have emerged claiming the county mayor, Karen Bass, rejected a help offer from the New York Fire Department. New York Post reported that New York City Fire Commissioner Robert Tucker had extended an offer “in recent days” to help battle the wildfires in the West Coast state. The report added that JetBlue Airlines had even offered to pay for the flights carrying “the city smoke-eaters” across the country from the Big Apple to Los Angeles."

https://www.wionews.com/world/la-wildfires-mayor-rejected-help-from-ny-fire-department-amid-crew-shortages-report-8609183

Goetz von Berlichingen said...

Dr. Weevil is right. I contacted wretchard and brought him up to speed on the truth. Drinking water reservoirs must be 100% covered by law. The SYR cover had a large tear and was required to shutdown. My question is: With the $2,7B setaside, why wasn't this critical part of the infrastructure proritized? THAT is the scandal

Iman said...

I stand dissected… 🥴

Rabel said...

I couldn't find out how big the "tear" was but the cover is 9 acres in size.

Don B. said...

Thank you, northof OneoOne, for answering a question that had puzzled me. (Federal bailout for California mortgage lenders is likely already in the works!)

Big Mike said...

Just one thing I ask — no, make that a demand: don’t you left-leaning morons lecture me about my gas stove and tankless water heaters if you aren’t going to keep water around to put out fires that send hundreds of millions of tons of CO2 into the atmosphere.

Lance said...

Even if the reservoir had been full, did the city, county and/or state have the equipment, electricity and personnel to pump enough water to make a difference?

Smilin' Jack said...

There’s an 18 acre drinking water reservoir just a few blocks from my house. It’s over 100 years old and has never had a cover. Last year they found a dead body floating in it. Some people boiled their water for a few days after, but I figured, meh—just a little more protein.

Paddy O said...

I'm a socal native and have never seen a cover on one of our reservoirs and I've seen many but maybe missed something. We in the mountains get our water from. The nearby uncovered lake.

If the reservoir did have to be covered it wasn't because of birds but more likely human interference. I know in Sacramento they had major problems with homeless near and polluting the river

Big Mike said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
planetgeo said...

The 6-month bailout of California for wildfire costs is like telling the layabout teenager who was wasted on weed and crashed his new BMW that daddy is going to have all his working cousins work overtime to pay the cost of getting it fixed. Meanwhile, those cousins who lost their homes in North Carolina and Florida will just have to suck it up a little longer.

Big Mike said...

”It’s completely unacceptable that this reservoir was empty for almost a year for minor repairs,” Gus Corona, business manager of IBEW Local 18, said in an interview with The Times. “This work should have been done in-house, and they shouldn’t have depended on a contractor to do it,” he said. “I truly believe it’s something that could have been avoided.”

The head of the LA Department of Water and Power, Janisse Quiñones, makes a salary of $750,000. Doesn’t seem as though she’s done much to earn it. But don’t worry. I confidently predict that neither she nor anyone else in the Department of Water and Power will be fired of asked to submit a letter of resignation.

Iman said...

You’re correct I think, Paddy O. Hetch Hetchy, Pardee, Lake Mathews are just a few that come to mind.

Yancey Ward said...

LOL!

Clyde said...

Another DEI hire. If you want more DEI, hire people like Ms. Quiñones. If you want water to come out of the hydrants, hire a white guy in his 50s named Earl. Bonus: You can probably pay him a third of what you're paying Ms. DEI Hire.

Iman said...

Investigate and execute

Iman said...

“Why so long to simply fix a tear in the cover?”

Permits.

TaeJohnDo said...

FFS! Will you people stop using facts and their own words to make the dems and DEIs look bad? You might hurt their feelings!

Sebastian said...

At what point should we infer from the actions taken and not taken that had the reasonably foreseeable effect of worsening future disasters, particularly fire in an urban area, that CA officials want that effect?

Breezy said...

Hard to get a kickback if you don’t hire a contractor to do the job.

rhhardin said...

The problem with democrats isn't incompetence per se, so there's no point in dwelling on it if you find it, it's noncomprehension of perverse consequences in everything. Problems don't respond well to direct action as they believe, as women believe. Men see a system with stuff following from direct action.

DEI is one thing that has perverse consequences like collapse of the system, predictably. But the people who screw up are not the focus of the mistake. It's the voters.

Big Mike said...

@TaeJohnDo, no. However much their feelings are hurt it’hll be nothing next to the psychic pain of people who’ve lost their homes and a lifetime of memories.

Lem Vibe Bandit said...

LA Times: "Petition For 'Immediate Recall' of Los Angeles Mayor Garners Nearly 60,000 Signatures, Cites 'Gross Mismanagement' of Wildfires"

rehajm said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
rehajm said...


I imagine Boston has some kind of water purification plant between the Quabbin Reservoir and Bostonians' taps.

Indeed. There is a huge cistern and a modern purification plant in about ten miles outside the city. Instead of chlorine they use ozone and the water quality is quite high, though New York wins on taste 😳…

Marcus Bressler said...

West Palm Beach, Florida gets its drinking water from Lake Okeechobee, Grassy Waters Everglades Preserve, and Clear Lake:
Grassy Waters Everglades Preserve
A historic headwaters of the northern Everglades that receives freshwater mainly from rainfall
Lake Okeechobee
A surface water source for West Palm Beach
Clear Lake
A surface water source for West Palm Beach that is fed by Grassy Waters Preserve
Underground wells
The city pumps water from underground wells to supplement its supply when Clear Lake is low
Other than wells, NOT ONE of those sources is covered ffs. It's the law? Where? In CA, probably. Like all those
cancer warnings on shite

Megaera3 said...

According to Quinones the reservoir was irrelevant. The LA system, at least as she explains it, involves 3 1-million gallon tanks up in the hills, Water is pumped uphill into them which then runs downhill with gravity into the system. The water demands created by the fires and firefighting depleted the system pressures and caused the supply collapse at the hyrants. Pumping could not move enough water fast enough uphill into the tanks (I think she said it would take HOURS to get enough water back into them) so it could run back downhill and refill and repressure the distribution lines,

Look, this is HER explanation, not mine, so it doesn't have to make sense. She is, after all, a city employee. But given the size of LA and the water demands of a population which has doubled or tripled in recent years (not counting illegals and homeless who steal from the hydrant supply lines when not actually stealing the hydrants themselves) how is this rational? LA constantly teeters on the edge of natural disaster - when did anyone ever wargame this clusterfoxtrot to see if it would work in a real-world disaster? Because, you know, it didn't. My guess would be never. MUUUCH too busy firehosing tax money into utterly pointless and self-destructive whimsies like the homeless/illegal/drugaddict petting zoos they seem to love much more than the people they tax to support them.

Dude1394 said...

From what I understand there were 2 1million gallon systems available. And a 117 MILLION gallon system that was put in place to handle...oh well....fires in palisades. That system was emptied in feburary so for about 11 months. What were the contingencies? What was the planning to make up for 117 million gallons of water.

You cannot just say, oh well we are going to take critical infrastructure offline without contingencies unless.....you are incompetent democrat DEI hires. So there is that.

Lem Vibe Bandit said...

But wait, it gets worse: "Flashback: LA Mayor Karen Bass was once considered top VP choice by Biden, praised by Obama as ‘outstanding’" 😆

Jupiter said...

So, the State of California is going to "probe" the situation. How much will that cost? What will it accomplish? Whose ass is it supposed to cover?

Enigma said...

Two parties on the left, a la Canada? I think California may have repopulated itself into Greek-style governmental dysfunction that will last for a very long time.

Gospace said...

SOME reservoirs, and cooling ponds, and even swimming pools, use covers to reduce evaporation, or keep the water from cooling too much. I doubt even 10% of reservoirs nationwide are covered. Water is filtered and treated before being distributed. One common method, much cheaper and easier to maintain- put a few million floating balls on top. Putting covers on top to reduce contamination? A losing game.

Ashokan is the largest reservoir in the NYC reservoir system with over 122 billion gallons max storage and 40 miles of shoreline. Part of a system where is is fed by other reservoirs upstream and it feeds reservoirs downstream before the water enters aqueducts to flow to NYC. None of which are covered.

Iman said...

Tell it!

typingtalker said...

On the question of "treated or untreated" water in the Santa Ynez Reservoir, MS Copilot tell me, "The Santa Ynez Reservoir stores treated water. It is part of the water supply system for the Pacific Palisades area and helps maintain water pressure and provide a backup water supply during emergencies"

Of course that is when it is actually storing water.

Quaestor said...

LAT sez, "State to probe why..."

Why? Why bother to probe. The grain of truth here is like a small pebble the size of Gibraltar, and just as obvious. Water-free water reservoirs are to be expected as the default condition when the ruling class thinks taxpayer-funded queer glee clubs are NUMBER ONE on the civic to-do list and firefighting is somewhere south of No. 739.

And who's about to do that pointless probing? The State -- the world's biggest fox in the henhouse guarding profession.

Dude1394 said...

Amazing. So they have not planned for ANYTHING. So the reservoir is irrelevant so why is it built? I smell manure.

Leland said...

I might just watch the Oscars this year to see if anyone has something to say.

Megaera3 said...

I THINK (can't swear to it because I'm not an engineer) that the empty reservoir didn't make a difference because once those 3 supply tanks in the hills were depleted they couldn't push enough water uphill fast enough to both fill all 3 tanks and then start to reempty them so as to maintain pressure in the systems. So, even if they had an ocean of fresh water their pumps were inadequate in the face of disaster to move enough, fast enough, to keep the system filled and operating, especially at higher elevations, which is what the Palisades area is/was. Apparently things would run fine as long as it was just a building or two burning, but large scale demand from fastmoving wildfires knocked everything down. Also, though I haven't seen any direct mention, I assume those pumps are electric (this IS California, after all) and if power lines go down and you don't have adequate emergency backup power (this IS LA we're talking about here) the ability to move water to the tanks will be even more constrained. I'd be willing to bet that system hasn't been adequate for the population and area risks for years -- if indeed it ever was -- but upgrades would have been expensive (maybe not 200 billion expensive, which is what the damage bill is currently running) and infrastructure maintenance is booooring, not sexy like virtue signalling. Far as I can see, LA voted for this for decades, and now they've finally got what they voted for, Good and hard,

Rabel said...

Here is a link to the company that built the cover. They also got the repair contract.

From what I can tell, covering is not specifically required but affords some benefits as far as the quality of the water supply.

In particular, aside from the obvious, contamination and evaporation, it allows for a lower use of chemical purifiers, which could have been a selling point in California.

Craig Mc said...

Boomers retiring. Infrastructure collapsing. Coincidence?

Craig Mc said...

The Detroitisation of California continues apace.

BUMBLE BEE said...

Bass fired the Fire Chief Crowley. Guess Bass didn't like the Chief's candid responses with the press. Why no water available goes to the very top.
Forget about it Jake, it's Chinatown.

Megaera3 said...

I probably wasn't clear, and bear in mind I'm sort of revoicing what I've heard, so, not exactly testimony under oath. When she said the Palisades reservoir wasn't relevant I THINK she meant it wasn't to this situation. If water from other sources weren't available it could have been crucial, but in this case they apparently had enough source water available for the pumps, but not enough tanks up in the hills and not enough pumping power to move a lot of water to them quickly, Once the last of the hilltop tanks was drained the pressure in the system dropped and could not be restored until those tanks were refilled. At least, that's my takeaway from the available info.

Rabel said...

Incorrect. Internet rumor.

Mason G said...

I've noticed that just about every "authority figure" in this mess has been quick to point out where someone else has dropped the ball. What I haven't heard is anybody stepping up and saying "Yes, I did that. Here's why."

Jimmy said...

reservoirs in areas with low humidity and high temps use the floating ball method, or tarps. LA is a desert, and water thats not moving evaporates very fast. NY is high humidity etc. Contamination isn't that much of a problem. Unless fire fighting tankers dump red slurry in the area, and then the water is pretty contaminated.
S. Cal is the only place where I've seen attempts to limit evaporation. Pools in the desert usually lose 1/4 to 1/2 a. day.

Pointguard said...

“AA” - “Garner” Alert - in headline.

Candide said...

Based on information cited above, it appears possible that the big reservoir was not critical for fighting the fires. If so, the focus needs to be placed on fire prevention efforts prior to fires (or lack thereof).

When back in 2020 Trump suggested to Newsome to start raking the underbrush, he was made fun of for sounding crude or something. But if denizens of Pacific Palisades put serious efforts into raking the underbrush around their neighborhoods this disaster may have been prevented. Or they could raise funds and provide employment to all those illegals in California, so they would do the raking.

typingtalker said...

From the Cliff Mass Weather Blog ...
Where and how did the Palisades Fire start?
...
We know that the fire started around 10:30 AM on Tuesday. The GOES visible satellite image at that time is shown below and you can see the smoke plume from a single fire.
...
Using Google Maps, we can easily identify that spot ,,, Below is a close-in shot of Summit, with the red arrow indicating roughly where the fire started based on weather satellite smoke plume.

Powerlines. Hung on wood structures.

Cliff Mass Weather Blog

cb said...

The proverbial 'word on the street': LA fires clear the way for SmartLA 2028 and 2028 LA Olympics https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/4289547/posts

Rabel said...

Seems like several hours more of water pressure as has been grudgingly acknowledged by LA authorities would have been helpful overall and critical in individual situations..

Mason G said...

"Based on information cited above, it appears possible that the big reservoir was not critical for fighting the fires."

Seems to me, in a region known to experience frequent wildfires, *any* source of water would be considered as a possible source for fighting fires, critical or otherwise.

But that's just me.

Aught Severn said...

but there's never a trouble-free time to take down an important system.

But, was there any discussion on mitigations? I am completely on board that sometimes systems need to be taken down which causes additional risk. Good engineering practice would dictate that you put in place mitigations to reduce the risk as much as it's reasonably achievable. Other than planning this to be performed during a targeted time window, what else was done?

There are lots of meaty questions to ask about this whole situation, not just the reservoir. In the end, I predict that there will be a mealy mouthed report that doesn't really get to any of the root causes, and that no one will truly be held accountable for this (fired and fined and/or prosecuted for gross incompetence).

A quote from Rickover comes to mind:

Responsibility is a unique concept... You may share it with others, but your portion is not diminished. You may delegate it, but it is still with you... If responsibility is rightfully yours, no evasion, or ignorance or passing the blame can shift the burden to someone else. Unless you can point your finger at the man who is responsible when something goes wrong, then you have never had anyone really responsible.

Paddy O said...

My guess is each and every one is a clinical narcissist.

Paddy O said...

A lot of these homes are paid off (either because of long term ownership or paying with cash as many new owners are). For those with mortgages, there is a requirement to have home insurance, but fire insurance itself is often not covered by any of the remaining policies. So the state has a stopgap state run program called FIRE plan (paid for by homeowners just like regular insurance), which likely feeds into discussions why the federal government might step into help cover the costs of that coverage.

TaeJohnDo said...

But Big Mike, the dems and DEIs don't give a Flying F about them.

BUMBLE BEE said...

https://www.foxla.com/news/la-mayor-kristin-crowley-meet-over-fire-chiefs-comments-17-6m-lafd-budget-cuts-source-says
NOT fired.

Candide said...

Of course it would help. But perhaps lack of fire prevention is a bigger problem.

Iman said...

“So, the State of California is going to "probe" the situation”

With sand in the Vaseline, no doubt.

Peachy said...

The expensive probe comes right after their million dollar Trump-Hate meetings.

Peachy said...

Operation save White Newsum pretty boi - in full Soviet-Media swing.

Dave said...

The first second Trump is sworn in, he needs to prioritize American citizens in the Appalachian flooding and in Los Angeles as his first priority. He needs to do exactly what Althouse and I both thought Biden should have done, begin the healing and unification of America. He is not the president of Washington DC, but the president of the United States. This is how he keeps and increases his majorities in the House and Senate.

Aggie said...

It's true that municipal systems in areas with steep relief make use of the terrain to site water tanks. I've seen them myself - putting a tank on a hill is usually cheaper than building a water tower, and it's cheaper to maintain, too. You need hydrostatic head pressure to run a municipal system. One of those million-gallon tanks is about a mile from the reservoir, which is already located up in the hills. The fire is still raging. I don't believe anybody can make a convincing argument that a full reservoir would not have improved matters by at least providing options to refill the steel tanks or provide a ready source for pumpers or helicopter tankers. It's been out of commission for a year. Anything that's out for that long, requires time and money to put back into service. All for a tear in an optional cover.

polpnw said...

I seem to recall a certain guest of Joe Rogan getting mocked for pointing out that no water was saved for municipal services from the rain water flooding that happened in California in 2023/24.

Yancey Ward said...

Even worse, if you look at Google street view of the neighboring subdivision- it was heavily vegetated with small lots. In a desert drought, it was like gasoline.

Tom T. said...

Good thoughts. Indeed, I'm now seeing suggestions that the reservoir was empty for years. That works against any theory of deliberate conduct, but it makes the negligence that much more inexcusable.

Zev said...
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hawkeyedjb said...

“Taking responsibility-“ a rare concept to begin with - is not necessary. It was Climate Change. That’s all we need to know.

Whew! Exonerated!

wendybar said...

And yet, Gavin is continuing to blame Trump like the little weasel Pelosi nephew he is.