Officials ask for weeklong halt on watering lawns

While repairs are made to pipeline, SCV Water Agency asks customers to limit outdoor water use

The Santa Clarita Valley Water Agency is asking homeowners to stop watering their lawns for a week while work is carried out on a pipeline that supplies water to Los Angeles.

Beginning March 4-10, water from Castaic Lake will be unavailable for use while repairs are made to a pipeline called the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California’s Foothill Feeder system.

The Foothill Feeder Connection, which draws on water from Castaic Lake, connects two of the agency’s water efficiency projects to the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California. It is part of the system that delivers water to SCV Water for treatment and distribution for urban use.

So, while the taps are turned off at Castaic Lake, SCV Water officials are asking local water users to limit outdoor water use.

“SCV Water is taking the necessary steps to prepare so we can continue serving our customers, but we are asking water users to refrain from irrigating next week to help us get through the repair period without any major issues,” said Matt Stone, general manager of SCV Water. “Outdoor irrigation is the largest single use of residential water, and turning off your irrigation March 4-10 can help achieve the needed extra water savings with the least impact on quality of life.”

Stone added that this will be a

good week to avoid other major outdoor uses of water, such as draining and refilling your swimming pool.

“The water will be in the lake, we just won’t be able to receive it while the facility is undergoing this annual maintenance,” Gary Haggin, operations and maintenance superintendent for SCV Water said. “Instead, we will rely exclusively on local groundwater sources and treated imported water stored at our reservoirs throughout the (Santa Clarita) Valley.”

About half of the SCV’s water is produced by local groundwater, while the other half is imported from the State Water Project and other sources.

Ahead of the shutdown, SCV Water is expected to fill all of its storage facilities to capacity. It is anticipated 92.3 million gallons of water will be stored in various reservoirs and tanks throughout the system.

“Now that all water services are united as one agency,” said Keith Abercrombie, chief operating officer for SCV Water, “the collaboration among all operations and distribution staff has helped minimize customer

impacts of this scheduled maintenance.”

Completing construction of the Foothill Feeder Connection is one of about 10 that require grant money to complete before 2023 and is expected to cost at least $7 million.

“It is still under construction and has several more months to go,” Brian J. Folsom, chief engineer for

SCV Water, told The Signal Thursday.

The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California is entitled to receive the lion’s share of Castaic Lake water. Its repairs will focus on improving its Foothill Feeder pipeline.

The Foothill Feeder Connection connects it to two of the SCV Water Agency’s water efficiency projects.