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Silver Lake Reservoir Will Be Drained This Summer
Silver Lake Reservoir (Photo by Michael Locke via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr)
If you jog by the Silver Lake Reservoir later this summer, you might notice something missing—like the water there. The reservoir will be drained so that a new water pipeline can be built under it.
The L.A. Times reports that it will be drained starting at the end of June or early July, and will remain dry for about a year until the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power finish construction. Then the reservoir will be refilled with non-drinking water.
The popular path that surrounds the Silver Lake Reservoir will remain open during construction, so you can still get your exercise on. However, we imagine that the view won't be that beautiful considering there will be trucks and construction equipment stored in the reservoir.
The concrete-lined Silver Lake Reservoir was used to store drinking water, but after the federal government wanted to stop using open-air reservoirs to store potable water in 2013, the pipeline carrying this water to the city's drinking supply was closed off. Our city's water is now stored in an underground reservoir called Headworks, and the new pipeline that's being built will bypass the Silver Lake Reservoir.
And since we're in a drought, we all know how important every drop of water is, so it's good to know that the drained water will be treated and be added to the city's drinking water supply.
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You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
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