NATURAL SELECTION; DWP AGREES TO RESERVOIR PRESERVE PLAN.

Byline: Deborah Sullivan Daily News Staff Writer

After a yearlong stalemate, the Los Angeles City Council won a Department of Water and Power commitment Tuesday to open Chatsworth Reservoir to the public for use as a nature preserve.

DWP Commission President Rick Caruso, who last week released a report offering seven options for the 1,300-acre area, relented to pressure from Councilman Hal Bernson and other council members to forgo sports fields and other recreational facilities.

``They seem very adamant that it should stay preserved, and if that's the final decision then fine,'' said Caruso, who pledged to return in two weeks with an action plan, laying out proposed uses, access, funding and potential managers including the Department of Recreation and Parks and the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy.

The DWP, which owns the property where bobcats, owls and Canada geese roam the oak grasslands, has sought to get rid of the $250,000 cost of maintaining it with limited public access.

``My biggest concern is getting it opened up and available for people to enjoy,'' Caruso said. ``If we're going to keep it as a public asset, then it should be opened up to the broader public, and I hear everyone concurring with that today.''

Bernson, who represents the area and has led efforts to preserve the reservoir as a wildlife habitat, said any other use is unacceptable, adding that the West Valley has other space for sports facilities.

``There's a place for development and there's a place to preserve,'' he said. ``We have to know the difference. I think we do.''

He softened his earlier insistence that the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy manage the site, saying he would consider turning the property over to another agency such as the city parks department.

Other council members rose in support of Bernson's plan.

DWP commissioners, along with youth recreation advocates, have favored building softball and soccer fields on part of the land to meet the city's dire need for athletic space.

Homeowners and environmentalists oppose any development, asserting that the entire area - more than half the size of the Sepulveda Basin - must be preserved as a wildlife habitat.

A year ago, the council directed the DWP to lease the land to the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy for use as a nature preserve, but DWP commissioners resisted the order, arguing that more study was needed.

Caruso appeared before the council with the results of that effort - a report prepared by the planning firm Psomas, detailing seven options for the site ranging from doing nothing to building a 2,400-home development with $100 million in revenue to the city.

Although he said the most intensive uses explored in the report - golf courses and housing - were not on the table, Caruso added that some portions of the site could house sports fields.

``We feel there are still some areas of the reservoir that could potentially be used for some limited recreation,'' he said. ``And a substantial portion of the area which should be held preserved, which we are certainly prepared to do.''

Several speakers argued that the site could best benefit Los Angeles' children in its current state. The reservoir is now open to school tours, student science programs and other limited uses.

``These 1,300 acres are probably the last open space that has wildlife, that has rare plants, that is available for the education of kids,'' Sandy Wohlgemuth, conservation chairman of the Los Angeles Audubon Society, told the council. ``This is something that would be criminal to destroy.''

Proponents of preserving the site said they were heartened by the long-awaited meeting.

``It was a hopeful meeting, leaving many more doors open on the part of the City Council and the DWP,'' said Rose Marie White, head of the Canada Goose Project, an environmental organization that runs educational programs at the reservoir in conjunction with Los Angeles schools.

Howard Greitzer, commissioner of the American Youth Soccer Organization's Valley Region, said he saw doors closing on sports opportunities for kids.

``Setting aside even 5 percent of the reservoir space would be a tremendous help in creating adequate fields in the West Valley,'' he said.

``But I hope that the action plan will be positive in that it may lead to reconsideration of sports fields.''

CAPTION(S):

Photo, Chart

Photo: (color) City leaders are reviewing proposed uses for the publicly owned 1,300-acre Chatsworth Reservoir property.

Photo by John McCoy/Daily News

Chart: Here's how the site compares in size to several other locations in the region:

Griffith Park  4,218 acres

Sepulveda Basin 2,031 acres

Hansen Dam  1,437 acres

Chatsworth Reservoir 1,300 acres

Universal City 420 acres

Magic Mountain 100 acres

SOURCE: City of Los Angeles; Daily News research