Assembly OKs Bill to Delay San Marino Reservoir Project

A bill that would delay a planned expansion of a San Marino reservoir passed the state Assembly on Tuesday in the wake of fears of some residents that enlarging it could threaten the safety of students at nearby San Marino High School.

Residents say the proposal to quadruple the size of the 1.5-million-gallon reservoir, on a slope above the high school, poses a potential danger because it could burst in an earthquake, flooding the school below.

The bill by Assemblyman Jack Scott (D-Altadena) asks state geology and dam safety officials to assess the threat; if they find that the construction threatens the school, the expansion would be prohibited.

“Nobody in their right mind would want any facility that poses a threat to children,” said Gerald Knudsen, who lives near the school.

The bill (AB 1485) passed 47 to 16 and was sent to the Senate. Scott said that if the reservoir were expanded as proposed by the local water district, “a five-foot wall of water” could come crashing through the high school in the event of an earthquake.

The high school and reservoir are built on the Raymond Hill fault.

The dispute over expanding the reservoir pits San Marino residents wary of its perceived danger against the water needs of residents of nearby cities.

The project is intended to increase the capacity of the San Gabriel County Water District, which serves more than 8,000 customers in San Gabriel, Rosemead and Temple City. The district first proposed the expansion in 1993.

The water district contends that the expansion will improve service to customers and boost firefighting capacity during emergency situations when pumps are not working.

Assemblywoman Diane Martinez (D-Monterey Park) opposed the bill, saying the San Marino residents’ objections are unfounded. “This bill is completely selfish and clearly off-base,” she said.

Martinez and supporters of the project said the larger reservoir would pose less of a threat than the existing one because it will be constructed better.

The existing reservoir was built in 1929, long before the school was constructed. In addition to expanding that reservoir, the water district plans to build a 4-million-gallon reservoir at Longden and Del Mar avenues.

The Assembly bill would delay only the reservoir above the school.

At the request of the San Marino school board, two Caltech geologists who are also San Marino residents reviewed the reservoir plans last year. In a letter to the school board, Brian M. Wernicke and Joann M. Stock wrote that the project presented “unnecessary risks to city residents.”

Denise Brogna, a lawyer for the water district, said the district commissioned its own study by other Caltech scientists, who found the project to be sound.

Residents, the school board and the city have filed a lawsuit challenging the validity of the project’s environmental impact report. A Los Angeles Superior Court judge is expected to rule on the case in August.

If approved, the projects will take about two years to complete, Brogna said.

Bernard E. LeSage, a former San Marino mayor who lives near the site, said that although a reservoir is already located above the school, the size of the project makes it especially fearsome. “This would be a mammoth reservoir,” he said.

Times correspondent Richard Winton contributed to this story.