For the first time since 2005, Valley Water drained the reservoir in Vasona Lake County Park last month.
Matt Keller, a spokesperson for Valley Water, said the utility reduced outflows to the lake in March to make it easier to reseal seams on the concrete dam as part of regular maintenance. The drainage effort also provided an opportunity for Valley Water to clean out debris like tree branches and sediment that have collected in the water over the years.
“We want to remove all that sediment up there so that it doesn’t get pushed back into the outlet pipes,” Keller said.
With intermittent rain still hitting the South Bay in recent weeks, officials planned to start filling the seams on the dam once it dried, with the goal of finishing the project by April 11 at the latest, Keller said.
“This type of infrastructure is about 90 years old, and that’s obviously important for us to continue to do this type of maintenance work on this infrastructure to make sure it’s working properly,” he added.
Valley Water said in a statement on their website that the organization has biologists onsite who are monitoring the wellbeing of wildlife in the area during the repairs.
“Birds are able to move to nearby habitats upstream and downstream of the reservoir,” the statement reads.
