Researchers evaluate how the fire-damaged Los Angeles County water supply system
The January fires that crossed Altadena and Pacific Palisades in January destroyed not only thousands of houses, but also some of the water and sewer systems that served them.
A study released Thursday by UCLA researchers showed that smaller water systems were hit hardest. In Altadena, for example, the burned area covers 79% of the Rubio Cañon Land and Water Association service area, while 88% of the territory of Las Flores Water Co..
By comparison, less than 5% of Los Angeles’ water and electricity service areas suffer. DWP serves about 4 million people; Las Flores offers less than 5,000.
“These fires test the physical and financial constraints of our water infrastructure,” said Gregory Pierce, co-director of the UCLA Luskin Innovation Center. “We need to consider not only repairing pipelines, but also redesigning systems and supporting populations that are more integrated, more equitable and resilient to the next crisis.”
Houses destroyed by Pali High School in the Palisades fire in the Pacific Palisades were across the street on January 8.
(Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)
Researchers at the Luskin Innovation Center analyzed the impact of excitation on water systems, as well as researchers at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst University and consulting firm Stantec. They examined the impact of the Palisades and Eaton fires on 11 community water systems in Los Angeles County, two sewer systems, and thousands of private wells and septic tank systems.
Los Angeles County has approximately 200 community water systems, a large portion of which serves less than 1,000 customers.
“Small but sometimes even medium-sized systems often face financial capability challenges,” Pierce said. “They get more complicated when they have to rebuild a large portion of the system and don't earn any revenue in the meantime.”
He noted that three smaller systems – Las Flores, Rubio Cañon and Lincoln Avenue Water Co.
“Recovery is underway and the fire has sparked a critical conversation about the resilience of drinking water and wastewater systems,” the researchers wrote in the report. “Ongoing local, state and federal support is critical to ensuring that future systems are adaptable and financially sustainable.”
The researchers also evaluated the demographics of affected communities.
Areas with damaged water systems mainly earn higher than the average in Los Angeles County, with higher percentages of homeowners and higher percentages of renters than the average in county. Most systems offer white populations, but the percentage of several water supply systems affected by the Eaton Fire service area is significantly greater than the county average of 8%, including Las Flores (37%) (37%), Lincoln Avenue (30%) and Rubio Cañon (11%).
The report notes that smaller water suppliers such as Las Flores and Lincoln Avenue have limited access to funding to help rebuild their systems.
“Although federal and state funding may fill some emergency and recovery gaps, local and regional systems may remain partially (if not entirely) financially self-dependent to cover repair costs,” the researchers said in the report. “At the same time, some of these same systems have much less revenue than typical ones, given the disengagement of their customer base.”
Pierce said the affected systems had already had high water prices based on the cost of providing services before the fire.
“The only direction in the future of these rates is to rebuild,” Pierce said. “So I’m not quite sure what we’re going to say about the affordability standards for water in these areas, or we just need to accept that the rates will be much higher, and that’s the cost of service.”
