Littlerock Reservoir Sediment Removal Project will Move Forward

Palmdale, CA-  On March 22, 2017, the Board of Directors for the Palmdale Water District held a noticed public hearing in its Board Room to consider certification of the Final Environmental Impact Report (EIR) and its decision on the Littlerock Reservoir Sediment Removal Project.

At this public hearing, the District Board of Directors certified the Project Final EIR and approved the Project with conditions after consideration of all public information and the comments received on the Project and Final EIR. As required by CEQA, the District has filed a Notice of Determination (NOD) with the Los Angeles County Clerk and the State Clearinghouse within five working days of the Project decision. A copy of the NOD can be found on the District’s webpage.

The project consists of three components. The first phase begins with construction of a subterranean grade control structure within Littlerock Reservoir at Rocky Point. The second phase is total removal of 1,165,000 cubic yards of accumulated sediment from within the Reservoir over a seven to twelve-year timeframe. Finally, scheduled ongoing annual sediment removal of approximately 38,000 cubic-yards per year to maintain design capacity.

These three project actions are necessary to restore and preserve the Reservoir capacity, which has been substantially reduced over time by the accumulation of sediment behind Littlerock Reservoir during seasonal inflows. In 1992 the reservoir had a storage capacity of 3,500 acre-feet (af). Currently, the Reservoir storage capacity has been reduced to approximately 3,037 af due to sediment buildup.

The Littlerock Dam and Reservoir’s recreational facilities were closed by the U.S Forest Service due to health and safety concerns since Spring 2015 and at this moment there are no plans to reopen its facilities to the public. The removal of the sediment within the Dam is to increase the much-needed water storage capacity.

The District has been supported in the preparation of the Final EIR by the USDA Forest Service, Angeles National Forest, as the Lead Agency under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). The Final EIR can be found on the Districts website under projects. For more information on the Palmdale Water District, including its’ water projects, visit www.palmdalewater.org.

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