LA’s Bureau of Engineering has complete details about the new Silver Lake Reservoirs Complex Master Plan on its website, from the community engagement process to the project’s current status.

SILVER LAKE MASTER PLAN
Balancing nature, humans, and safety

After more than a century of evolving impacts, needs, and purposes, the reservoirs are once again at a historic turning point. Many years ago, the lakes were excavated and paved for the crucial purpose of providing drinking water to a large section of Los Angeles. But they are now offline, and the city no longer has a practical use for them. The question is what to do with this resource now. We know from many years of surveying the community that most people want water to remain in the lake. Our neighbors value the property as a natural oasis, and as a tranquil hub for community activity. Without a clear vision for the future, the complex is in danger of becoming an abandoned industrial facility that will fall into disrepair and decay.

This is why the SLRC has been participating with the City, other neighborhood groups, and internationally renowned planning firm Hargreaves Jones to develop a master plan for the Silver Lake Reservoirs Complex. The planning process began in the spring of 2018 and solicited input from thousands of residents.

The plan recommends addressing many of the problems with the reservoirs by naturalizing the asphalt banks, planting many more trees and native shrubs, providing habitat for birds, enhancing the dog park and recreational center, and transforming the utility road inside the fences into a safe walking path removed from the busy traffic of Silverlake Boulevard, among other things.

Perhaps even more importantly, the plan also envisions the reservoirs as part of the solution to problems facing our whole society. Replacing pavement, which acts as an urban heat sink, with dirt and plants will cool us all off. Making the reservoirs a vital part of collecting storm water runoff—something the city does too little of today—increases our commitment to sustainability. We can do our part to avert the impending dangers of climate change by filling this space with trees that suck carbon from the atmosphere and by transforming the lakes into thriving habitat for wildlife.

None of these solutions can happen overnight. These projects will likely be undertaken over the next twenty years or more. There has been some confusion over the details of the plan and the process, and we hope we can offer some clarification here:

Myth: The master plan has been developed in secret without community involvement.

Fact: Nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, this plan has set records for community involvement. The master plan was funded by the LADWP and managed by the Bureau of Engineering, which created a working group that included about 20 representatives from the offices of elected officials, the Neighborhood Council and four separate community groups, including the SLRC. This working group met five times to plan the five community meetings that would be held over the next year. The first meeting in June 2019 was attended by more than 220 stakeholders; the reservoir tour in August 2019 was attended by more than 600, and 450 attended a November 2019 meeting. The planning team also administered three separate surveys eliciting thousands of responses. The team also received hundreds of written comments from members of the community who participated in public meetings and the reservoir tour.

Myth: The master plan is for the benefit of “Developers”

Fact: The biggest thing to understand is that the master plan is only a list of possible projects designed to solve current problems. After the list is approved, the next step will be environmental review, including traffic studies. After that, the hope is to choose an initial project, which will require funding that is as-yet unidentified. Eventually, hopefully within five years, someone will be hired to do construction. This job will probably go to a landscape firm experienced in habitat restoration. Their revenue would come from doing the construction and they would not have any kind of financial stake in development.

Myth: People inside the fence will scare off the birds.

Fact: Exciting new research has shown that wildlife can persist and thrive in urban areas when habitat is available. In our increasingly urbanized world, it is important to design green spaces in cities that are hospitable to animals. That’s why the master plan envisions dozens of acres of new, improved habitat protected from people, but rich in natural resources, including a self-sustaining eco-system for birds and fish. There are a few animals inside the fences now; but the new plan would mean a much greater number and diversity of species.

Some residents are worried about change, but the bigger worry is that we will waste this opportunity. Doing nothing is not an option. DWP rate payers have no reason to continue maintaining the lakes and the property around them since it is not needed for drinking water. Without a community-approved maintenance and use plan, trees will fall down, garbage will accumulate, and we’ll be left with an abandoned industrial site.

This would be a tremendous loss given the scarcity of trees, wildlife habitat, and places for people to connect with their neighbors in our city.

Planning for stewardship is difficult but necessary to prevent dire consequences. As with everything good in Los Angeles, nothing will happen until active community members come together to put in place all the elements needed for improvement. We will need money. We will need stakeholder participation. It will be up to us to prioritize what we want and advocate for it.

See you around the lake! 

Warmest Regards, 
Andrew Thomas, President
Silver Lake Reservoirs Conservancy