Encino Reservoir gets a new park?

No, not in Encino Reservoir itself - that’s closed to the public. But local residents around Charmion Lane and Louise Avenue may soon have a 2.23 acre park nearby (but not adjoining the Reservoir), courtesy of The Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority (map here; resolution here). I can only imagine locals using it.

Update June 2011 - this park is dead. It has been closed off at the Charmion end (you can still access it from Louise) so its use as a neighborhood park is zero and the land may as well be sold. I guess the locals are unfamiliar with the concept of neighborhood parks and they freaked out that other locals might use it. NIMBYism.

As for Encino Reservoir itself, up until 2003, most Encino residents got their water from it. But state and federal drinking water regulations put an end to open reservoirs like this one. That’s because the chemicals used to get rid of the bacteria and algae – notably chlorine – produced an acrid taste and smell and there were concerns about the “disinfection by-products,” such as trihalomethanes and Haloacetic acids.

Encino Reservoir does have a new state-of-the-art water treatment facility and pumping station, but that’s in case of water emergencies like droughts. It also serves as a catchment basin used by fire-fighting helicopters – as in the hillside fire of 2006.

Since 2003 Encino has received its drinking water from Los Angeles Reservoir in Sylmar where it’s filtered and treated, then delivered underground via gravity flow. This centralized model has delivered better quality water but there is always the concern, as with all such models, that we are more vulnerable in the event of a system-wide failure (the water main breaks give a hint of this).