SEWER BLUEPRINT UNVEILED MAJOR PORTION OF $3 BILLION PLAN WOULD BENEFIT VALLEY.

Byline: KERRY CAVANAUGH Staff Writer

Capping seven years of work, Los Angeles' public works officials have unveiled a $3 billion plan to upgrade the city's sewer, storm-water and water-treatment systems.

The San Fernando Valley will benefit from a large chunk of the investment intended to meet increasingly stringent water-quality laws and the needs of the surging population.

The city is expected to add 700,000 residents in the next 14 years and all those people -- and their waste -- will generate 68 million more gallons of wastewater daily.

Much of the massive blueprint is dedicated to upgrading sewer lines and expanding the city's wastewater treatment plant in the Valley. And it marks one of the first comprehensive efforts in years.

``The city is at a turning point. We really need to look forward to the future. Water is one of our last precious resources,'' said Cynthia Ruiz, president of the Board of Public Works.

But the plan already is coming under fire in some neighborhoods where sewer lines are proposed. The Burbank City Council, for example, has vowed to fight a planned expansion that would locate an underground pipeline near homes and businesses in its city.

The Bureau of Sanitation is expected to present the plan to the Los Angeles Board of Public Works on Wednesday, and officials expect the City Council to approve it by the end of October.

The sewer, storm-water and wastewater upgrades would be built over the next 20 years at a cost of roughly $3 billion.

The Integrated Resources Plan is a new kind of project for Los Angeles. The Department of Water and Power -- which supplies water for use -- and the Bureau of Sanitation -- which treats water after it's used -- teamed up to see how they could coordinate efforts.

The departments put together a panel of homeowners, business owners, environmentalists and activists that, over four years, considered a variety of options.

The new concept emphasizes reusing water.

``This effort is a result of community members coming together with the city. What we've heard is that we want to maximize the use of our resources, maximize the use of our facilities, work together and look for multiple benefits,'' said Adel Hagekhalil, manager of the city's wastewater engineering services.

``I think we were able to come up with a win-win to address some of the concerns of the community and address the objectives of the project.''

Under the plan, treated wastewater would be used for irrigation. The city also would use vacant lots, parks and abandoned alleys in the East Valley as green space where storm water and urban runoff could filter down through the soil and replenish groundwater.

The plan suggests that the city could use highly treated sewage water to replenish groundwater and drinking water supplies -- nicknamed ``toilet-to-tap'' by critics -- but that idea could not be resurrected without a lengthy environmental study.

The plan's first major projects include $660 million to expand the Tillman Water Reclamation plant in the Sepulveda Basin and install three new sewer lines from the southern end of the San Fernando Valley to East Los Angeles.

The work would be funded through sewer fees on user bills.

Sewer construction would begin in 2011 to take pressure off a line built in the 1930s that's nearly at capacity.

But the sewers have been the most controversial elements of the plan.

Residents near the proposed lines worry about years of drilling and trucking through their neighborhoods during construction -- as well as potential odors and fumes after the work is complete.

Los Angeles Public Works officials received 2,750 letters in connection with the plan, most related to concerns about the sewer-line routes.

After reviewing the complaints, Los Angeles City Councilman Tom LaBonge and sanitation officials drew new sewer lines that would run south of most residential areas in an effort to compromise with residents in Studio City, Toluca Lake and Burbank, who complained about the construction and potential sewer smells.

``This is the best way to serve the community in an important public works project that everybody uses daily but doesn't know where it goes,'' LaBonge said.

But the sewer lines still go through a portion of Burbank -- under Forest Lawn Drive, Pass Avenue and Riverside Drive. Los Angeles treats about 3 million gallons of sewage produced in Burbank every day.

At a Burbank City Council meeting earlier this week, officials vowed to fight the proposed expansion and ordered the city staff to investigate whether the routing process followed state environmental law.

``Our council was very clear they would have preferred the sewer stay completely out of Burbank,'' said Burbank Public Works Director Bonnie Teaford.

kerry.cavanaugh(at)dailynews.com

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THE PLAN

The 1,500-page Integrated Resources Plan lays out a blueprint for Los Angeles to meet future wastewater, recycled water and urban runoff needs. Its recommendations include:

Expand the Tillman Water Reclamation plant in Sepulveda Basin from 64 million to 100 million gallons a day. It would reuse up to 56,000 acre-feet of recycled water daily.

Add wastewater recycling and treatment equipment at the Hyperion Treatment Plant.

Increase the amount of recycled effluent from Tillman and Los Angeles-Glendale.

Continue implementing water conservation programs, including ``smart'' irrigation devices.

Install three new sewer lines at an approximate cost of $150 million each.

Run a northeast sewer line from Eagle Rock north to near the Los Angeles Zoo, running west of the Los Angeles River west through Griffith Park.

Run a Glendale-Burbank line from Caltrans' North Hollywood Maintenance Station in Toluca Lake, east along Moorpark Street and Forest Lawn Drive to the zoo.

Run an 8 1/2-mile Valley Spring Lane line from Toluca Lake to Tillman, but the specific route has not yet been developed.

More information on the plan is available at www.lacity.org/SAN/irp.

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THE PLAN (see text)