It’s a case of deja vu that has many Southern Californians seeing red.
Nearly one year after a hellish wildfire incinerated thousands of homes and left a dozen people dead, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) is preparing to pull the plug on one of the neighborhood’s most critical water sources — again.
The Santa Ynez Reservoir, which was notoriously offline when the January Palisades fire exploded into a 23,000-acremonster, could go offline again as early as next month for further repairs, according to a recent release from the LADWP.
The reservoir is expected to be drained and taken offline for an estimated nine months, Fox 11 reported.
Lake Cachuma dam in the drought in Santa Ynez valley, California. Roger Sloan – stock.adobe.comFor residents who watched their neighborhood turn into a tinderbox while fire hydrants sputtered and ran dry last winter, the timing couldn’t be worse.
The LADWP insists that contingency measures are in place and they are working with the LA Fire Department “to ensure redundant water supplies are available,” but the optics are a public relations disaster since the Santa Ana winds ramp up in January.
“It’s tone-deaf, to say the least, on the eve of one of the most destructive fires in our country’s history,” a resident who lost his home in the Palisades fire told FOX 11.
“To take down the reservoir again for another nine months under these circumstances makes no sense.”
The January 2025 disaster was the third-most destructive in California’s history. The blaze, fueled by 80-mph Santa Ana winds and record-setting droughts, destroyed over 6,800 structures and claimed 12 lives.
At the height of the chaos, firefighters found themselves holding empty hoses. The Santa Ynez Reservoir — the area’s primary backstop — had been taken offline earlier to fix a tear in the floating cover that protects it from pollutants.
Firefighters work as the Hughes Fire burns on January 22, 2025, in Castaic, California. The wildfire has spread 9,400 acres and has prompted mandatory evacuations just over two weeks after the Eaton and Palisades Fires caused widespread destruction across Los Angeles County. Getty ImagesWhat was thought to be a minor repair turned into a major scandal. Lawsuits followed, and even Governor Gavin Newsom was forced to launch an investigation into why the city let a 117-million-gallon safety net sit empty during peak fire season.
While officials patched the reservoir and trumpeted its return to service this past June, the victory lap was short-lived.
LADWP now says the reservoir needs more work, having placed an order for a new floating cover to “provide stronger resilience, protect water quality, and ensure continued compliance with drinking water standards and regulations.”
A property standing at 15256 De Pauw St. in the Pacific Palisades area of Los Angeles appears to be the only phoenix rising from the ashes as the rush for building permits is slowed by the usual red tape. NY PostThe repair to cover is meant to be a “long-term” if not “permanent” fix, city officials told The Post.
Meanwhile, officials have repeatedly maintained that the system is designed to provide clean drinking water, not combat wildfires.
As the calendar flips to 2026 and the hot, dry winds return, whatever residents are left in Pacific Palisades aren’t just going to be looking at the horizon for smoke — they’re looking at their city’s water department and wondering if they’re about to be left out to dry once more.
The Santa Ynez Reservoir will stay in service until the new cover is ready, community outreach has been conducted, contingency measures are secured, and the contractor is ready, according to the LADWP.
