REPORT SOUGHT ON WELL CLEANUP DWP SAYS WATER SAFE, BUT L.A. PANEL WANTS DETAILS.

Byline: Rick Orlov Staff Writer

Despite assurances that significant progress has been made in cleaning up the San Fernando Valley groundwater basin, city officials said Wednesday they want a more detailed briefing on steps now being taken and those planned for the future.

``There needs to be a coordinated presentation that takes not only what the (Department of Water and Power) is doing, but the state and federal and regional boards as well,'' Councilman Joel Wachs said at a meeting of the council's Environmental Quality and Waste Management Committee. ``Safety is what's on people's minds and we have to be able to assure them that the water they are drinking is safe.''

Los Angeles water is safe to drink, DWP officials say, adding that strides have been made to clean up contaminated groundwater and limit its spread to other areas.

Richard Nagel of the DWP said his agency and others have been working for years to reduce the amount of contamination that is the result of decades of manufacturing - particularly in the East San Fernando Valley where metals, disinfectants and chemicals went into the soil and reached the groundwater.

The problem was so severe that the cities of Glendale and Burbank were forced to stop using their wells to pump up water. Glendale will soon be able to pump its water again, but Burbank cannot.

Officials estimated that about 400,000 acre feet of the nearly 3 million acre feet in the San Fernando Valley groundwater basin are contaminated now, leaving plenty of water to provide for all the city's needs.

Groundwater accounts for about 15 percent of the city's water supply.

One acre-foot of water is about 325,000 gallons, enough for two families of four for a year.

Mel Blevins, the Water Master for the San Fernando Valley, said the city has been working since 1987 to clean up the groundwater and he has been pleased with the efforts.

Blevins said the city has dug new wells as well as monitoring wells to track the level of contamination and he believes there are ample supplies for the city, even in the event of a drought.

City water officials have been concerned that the La Nina weather pattern will result in mild temperatures with little rain and a light snowpack in the Eastern Sierras.

New concern about the safety of the water supply was raised last year in a report by University of California, Los Angeles, Professor Tom Harmon, who gave the city a grade of ``C'' in treating its water.

Harmon told the panel the purpose of his report was to alert the public to where the city stood in treating its water.

``Previously, I had termed this as hopeless, but now I think they are doing the best they can with the resources they are receiving,'' Harmon said. ``The purpose of the report card was to alert the public that their safety was of most interest, but also the safety of the environment. It's time to draw a line and not let the problems grow worse.''