Supervisors consider Barger’s land use, water theft motion
PALMDALE — Concerned about illegal land use and water theft in the rural parts of the Antelope Valley, Supervisor Kathryn Barger is asking for a coordinated action plan that includes multi-jurisdictional steppedup enforcement and a plan to monitor and harden Los Angeles County Waterworks District No. 40 infrastructure.
Her motion before the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday asks Public Works Director Mark Pestrella to report back with a compre
hensive plan to monitor and harden Waterworks District No. 40 within 60 days.
The Antelope Valley’s sparse density and rural nature make illegal land use operations and activity difficult to identify, respond to and enforce, the motion said.
“In recent years, this has been evident in the number of complaints the County has received related to illegal dumping, illegal wastewater dumping, general nuisance abatement concerns, and even more significant criminal activity,” the motion said. “In particular, there has been a significant and sharp increase in reports of illegal marijuana grows. It is estimated that there could be hundreds of illegal operations in the Antelope Valley.”
The illegal operations also have significant detrimental impacts on the surrounding communities such as odor and air quality impacts, illegal squatting and takeover of private land, and theft of potable water supplies, according to the motion. For example, water theft typically occurs with illegal access and tapping of fire hydrants in remote areas and other vulnerable water supply infrastructure, according to the motion.
The water theft has impacted LA County Waterworks District No. 40, Antelope Valley, which provides potable water services to an estimated 210,089 people in rural communities such as Pearblossom, Littlerock, Sun Village, Lake Los Angeles, and Desert View Highlands.
“Enhanced enforcement efforts have been unable to mitigate the financial and operational impacts of theft,” the motion said.
According to the motion, between March 25 and 28, “Continued theft of water from the District No. 40’s supply and storage led to critical low-pressure alarms, potentially threatening the District’s ability to provide water resources to its customers, and potentially jeopardizing the ability of the Los Angeles County Fire Department to respond to a structure fire, let alone any more significant wildfire related disasters.”
The Board of Supervisors will conduct a virtual meeting at 9:30 a.m. Tuesday.
To listen by telephone call (877) 873-8017 Enter the access code when prompted. Access Code for English: 111111 Access Code for Spanish: 222222.
To address the Board on all regular agenda items, call 877-226-8215, using participant code 1336503, starting at 9:a.m.
Written public comments may be submitted through the website https://publiccomment.bos.lacounty.gov, which will become part of the official record.
Visit http://bos.lacounty.gov/Board-Meeting/ Live-Broadcast to view via the Web.