PLOT OF LAND IN MIDDLE OF WATER DEBATE HEADWORKS KEY TO WATER SOLUTION.

Byline: Kerry Cavanaugh Staff Writer

To passers-by, the 43-acre plot sandwiched between the Ventura Freeway and Forest Lawn Memorial-Park is a fenced-in patch of weeds.

But to Department of Water and Power engineers, the site is a potential solution to a major headache - replacing the outdated Silver Lake Reservoir. The DWP is considering building a 110-million gallon storage tank on the property to replace the reservoir, which is closing because of new water quality rules.

But environmental groups trying to revitalize the Los Angeles River say the parcel is a rare city-owned, unpaved chunk of land next to the river and the single best site to restore the historic reed and bird-filled wetlands that lined the waterway before it was paved into a flood channel.

The DWP could be wasting such a valuable site for short-term relief from a controversial project, opponents argue.

The property, called the Headworks Spreading Ground, was once used by the DWP to percolate Los Angeles River water into the aquifer - a use environmentalists want to see restored to replenish the region's dwindling groundwater supplies.

``You have this really treasured site here. You have this unique remnant of the flood plain of Los Angeles River; it really calls out to be restored as a wetland,'' said Christopher Kroll, the Los Angeles River project manager with the Coastal Conservancy.

``My preference would be for this issue to be dealt with at Silver Lake Reservoir, where the problem is, not at the headworks site,'' Kroll said.

The DWP is just beginning to study the tank project. At first glance, though, headworks appears the easiest, cheapest and most user-friendly option to replace Silver Lake Reservoir, said Paul Liu, a civil engineer with the DWP.

New national water quality laws require all open reservoirs be covered, which can be an expensive prospect. As a result, the DWP is in the process of taking the city's 10 open reservoirs out of service.

With the Silver Lake Reservoir, the DWP wants to replace it with large storage tanks. Building a new storage tank at the headworks site would cost an estimated $120 million compared to an estimated $160 million to renovate the Silver Lake reservoir, Liu said.

He also said it would be less of an inconvenience to Silver Lake residents and make use of the fallow headworks site.

In Silver Lake, homes abut the reservoir and storage options are limited. Residents and City Councilman Tom LaBonge have asked the DWP to consider storing drinking water elsewhere and keeping the reservoir as the same scenic lake.

If the DWP were to proceed with the headwaters project, it would build a 40-foot tall partially underground storage tank flush with Forest Lawn Drive. The tank would take up 15 acres of the 43-acre site and would be covered with dirt, planted with native vegetation and perhaps hold picnic tables or benches.

< On the far end of the property, the DWP is considering building a hydrogeneration plant to convert into electricity the pressure from the pipe feeding the storage tank. The plant could potentially generate 4 megawatts per day or enough for 4,000 homes, said Bill Glauz, DWP manager of distributive generation.

In the middle of the property, the utility could restore the wetlands habitat to be more inviting to birds and other wildlife.

Liu has heard the environmentalists' dreams for the city-owned property and thinks the DWP can accommodate at least some of their hopes for wetlands habitat. The agency is wary of using the site for replenishing the aquifer since there is known groundwater contamination in the area.

``Headworks is a rare piece of property,'' he said. The water storage tanks ``may encumber 15 acres of it, but you'll get a park, green power and habitat restoration.''

Even 15 acres may be too much, said Kroll with the Coastal Conservancy.

``I'm kind of greedy, but it's just that there's so little left,'' he said of the sandy spreading ground property. ``When you talk about 99 percent of this watershed's wetlands are gone, every little bit does count.''

The conservancy is one of several river advocacy groups who are now trying to convince the DWP not to build tanks there.

A stakeholders group had been developing a plan to pool river water and let it seep in to replenish the groundwater supplies, as well as create seasonal wetlands, a bike path and an education center, said Melanie Winter, director of the River Project.

She said the DWP's tank project wouldn't use the land to its highest value.

``Clearly as you drive by headworks now, it is not a pretty thing to look at,'' Winter said. ``But I think it's worth the wait if you can, a couple of years later, not only make it beautiful but 10 times more useful.''

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Headworks site