LAKE HAS A NEW LOOK CLEANING, MAINTENANCE WORK BEING DONE IN AREA.Byline: JUDY O'ROURKE Staff Writer CASTAIC -- The water in Castaic Lake has been drained by about half for a major maintenance project, but the reservoir that buoys boaters, fuels a power plant and quenches the thirst of millions of Southern Californians is newly postcard-pretty. ``It's dramatically different; you can see the contoured line along the shorelines,'' said Paul Thetreau, a part-time lake lifeguard. ``It's got an ancient look.'' The water supply has not been diminished by the 70-foot drop in the waterline, and buoys encircling encircling (en·serˑ·k islands jutting jut v. jut·ted, jut·ting, juts v.intr. To extend outward or upward beyond the limits of the main body; project: from the water's surface caution boaters and fishermen unaccustomed to the obstructions. About once every 10 years, the State Water Project drains the reservoir to perform routine inspections and maintenance on an aqueduct tunnel from Pyramid Lake to Castaic Lake, which it feeds. The water from the 400-foot-deep dam was delivered to the Castaic Lake Water Agency and the Metropolitan Water District, said John Bunce n. 1. a sudden unexpected piece of good fortune. Noun 1. bunce - a sudden happening that brings good fortune (as a sudden opportunity to make money); "the demand for testing has created a boom for those unregulated laboratories where boxes of , operations superintendent for the State Department of Water Resources. The lower lake, open in summer to swimmers and year-round for boating, is not affected. Much of the maintenance work is being done by the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) is the largest municipal utility in the United States, serving 3.9 million residents in 2006. It was founded in 1902 to deliver water and electricity supplies to residents and businesses in Los Angeles. , which runs a hydro-electric plant upstream from the lake. The department is cleaning debris from a massive screening system, checking pipelines and repairing erosion at the earthen earth·en adj. 1. Made of earth or clay: an earthen fortification; an earthen pot. 2. Earthly; worldly. Elderberry elderberry, n Latin names: Sambucus nigra, Sambucus canadensis; parts used: buds, fruit; uses: common cold, toothaches, headaches, diaphoresis, hay fever, sinus infections, epidermal irritations, lacerations, liver disorders, inflammation; Dam, where water from a reservoir cycles into the plant. A DWP DWP Department of Work and Pensions (UK) DWP Drinking Water Program DWP Dynamic Weapon Pricing (gamin, Counter-Strike: Source) DWP Department of Water & Power DWP Drinking Water Protection maintenance construction worker was killed Dec. 9 while making repairs outside the plant. Donne Ballard, 45, a father of seven, died after falling about 60 feet into a concrete flood control area. The lake usually holds up to 320,000 acre-feet of water. An acre-foot covers one acre, a foot deep. The DWP's work should be complete by the end of January and the months-long fill-up should begin shortly thereafter when water from Northern California will make the 350-mile southward trip. The water level should return to normal by May, Bunce said. judy.orourke@dailynews.com (661) 257-5255 CAPTION(S): photo Photo: (ran in SAC edition only) A strange coastline and islands normally underwater are seen at the half-drained upper Castaic Lake. Tom Mendoza/Staff Photographer |
|
||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion