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The Santa Ynez Reservoir in Pacific Palisades was offline for repairs in January. Repair work is expected to be completed by May 2027.A new report by several state agencies found that the water supply during the Palisades Fire was too slow, not too low, and even a functioning Santa Ynez Reservoir likely wouldn’t have helped much.
“The water system lost pressure, not due to a lack of water supply in the system, but because of an insufficient flow rate,” theThough the exact data was missing, the state agencies running the investigation found that it was “unlikely that could have helped maintain pressure for very long.” Municipal water systems like L.A.’s are not designed to fight large-scale urban conflagrations. Their main function is delivering drinking water.The repairs to fix the Santa Ynez Reservoir’s broken cover and make it usable again are slated to begin in June and finish by May 2027.a state investigation into whether the reservoir being full of water would have made a difference fighting the deadly fire. After months of analysis, California agencies including the state’s EPA, Cal Fire and the Department of Water Resources issued aThe report found that not even a full reservoir positioned uphill from the Palisades Fire could have maintained water pressure and stopped the unprecedented disaster. “The water system lost pressure, not due to a lack of water supply in the system, but because of an insufficient flow rate,” the report states. A reservoir perched at a high elevation, such as the Santa Ynez, can serve an important role in maintaining water pressure for hydrants throughout the system. As water gets used downhill, water from the reservoir flows to pressure towers. Because of gravity and limitation on flow rates, the pressure towers can't be refilled at the same pace as they are drained. Meanwhile, the reservoir dries up. In the case of the Palisades Fire, the report states, a full reservoir would have helped keep water pressure up for only a short time. The report noted that the exact data on the demand on the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power’s system was missing. However, investigators found that based on experiences with other fires, the high demand across the system meant it was “unlikely that could have helped maintain pressure for very long.”The report found that the closure of the Santa Ynez Reservoir was in line with the primary purpose of L.A.’s water infrastructure: maintaining a clean drinking water supply. The reservoir repairs were prompted by a damaged cover. The repairs, the report notes, were required by federal and state laws on drinking water safety. “This report confirms what we and others have been saying more broadly regarding water system expectations and capabilities, but does so completely independently and with new details specific to the L.A. fires,” Greg Pierce, the director of UCLA’s Human Right to Water Solutions Lab, said in an email to LAist.The state stopped short of recommending any changes to L.A.’s municipal infrastructure. Water experts like Pierce say massive amounts of water and a very expensive redesign of L.A.’s water system would be needed to keep fire hydrants working during large urban conflagrations.from the Fire Safety Research Institute about the timeline leading up to and during the January firestorm. That report, which was commissioned by the California governor's office, contains a detailed account of the Palisades and Eaton fires' progressions and emergency services' responses on Jan. 7 and 8. As for the Santa Ynez Reservoir, the repairs to fix its broken cover and make it usable again are slated to begin in June and finish by May 2027.The first rebuilt home in the Pacific Palisades has been given a certificate of occupancy following the Palisades Fire in January 2025.The certificate of occupancy is the final step in the rebuilding process. It means the home has been inspected, is up to code and is ready to be lived in. "The Palisades community has been through an unimaginable year, and my heart breaks for every family that won't be able to be home this holiday season. But today is an important moment of hope," Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said in a statement.Bass' office says more than 340 projects have started construction in the Palisades, with more rebuilding plans being sent in daily.on the first home in L.A. County to receive a certificate of occupancy after the fire — an Altadena home belonging to LAist community engagement producer David Rodriguez.breaks down evolving policies and programs with a focus on the housing and homelessness challenges confronting some of SoCal's most vulnerable residents.A drive-through food distribution, in response to the federal government shutdown and SNAP/CalFresh food benefits delays, hosted by the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank and L.A. County officials.in the Los Angeles area scrambled to serve a rush of people looking for help, including many older adults. So what's next for these organizations and the families they serve?Hundreds of households signed up for food pantries as SNAP benefits stalled and government workers went without paychecks. More people aged 65 and older turned to senior meal programs for daily lunches.Even though the government has reopened, some leaders of local food organizations say they don’t expect to see a drop in demand anytime soon, particularly with the holidays approaching.Hundreds of households signed up for food pantries as SNAP benefits stalled and government workers went without paychecks. More people aged 65 and older turned to senior meal programs for daily lunches. Even though the government has reopened, some leaders of local food organizations say they don’t expect to see a drop in demand anytime soon, particularly with the holidays approaching. The government funding bill signed Nov. 12 is “only a temporary fix,” according to Eli Veitzer, president and CEO of Jewish Family Service L.A. He told LAist the organization is trying to prepare for the possibility of “We know the drill, we've done this before,” he said. “We know how to flex and expand hours and delivery, but that's really about all that we can do at this point.” Veitzer and others said the outpouring of donations and volunteers to outreach organizations helped get them through the crisis in the short term, but that’s not sustainable in the long term. As uncertainty lingers, L.A.-area organizations are keeping food flowing with non-government support, including expanded partnerships with local grocery stores or private donors, thousands of additional volunteers and community contributions.During the government shutdown, which started in early October, the Department of Agriculture froze funding for SNAP, or the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, beginning Nov. 1.over its “unlawful refusal to fund SNAP/CalFresh benefits … despite possessing funds to support this critical program for the month of November,” according toCourt rulings ordered funding for SNAP to continue, at least partially. The Trump administration initially said it would comply and then appealed.The bill passed by Congress funds the government until Jan. 30, with carveouts for SNAP, which will be funded through September 2026.The organization saw a 24% jump in people coming for food assistance, Flood told LAist, with some of the food bank’s more than 600 partner agencies across L.A. County reporting even higher increases. “We have more than 1.5 million people in Los Angeles County who those benefits are critical to them to feed themselves and feed their families,” Flood said. “It's led to a lot of just uncertainty, concern, and just worry about, you know, am I going to be able to get enough help in order to feed myself.” People waiting in line to receive free groceries in the aftermath of the federal government shutdown which caused SNAP/CalFresh food benefits delays. It was hosted by the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank and L.A. County officials.People receive free food boxes at a November food distribution event hosted by the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank and L.A. County officials.Jewish Family Service L.A.’s food pantries serve about 10,000 households a year, according to Veitzer. He said they added more than 1,000 households since the organization started to see “huge increases” in demand during the same time period. There was also about a 15% rise in the number of older adults turning to the organization’s senior meal programs for hot lunches every day.Jane Jefferies, 70, lives out of her car in the West L.A. area and told LAist the $24 a month she receives for CalFresh was not disrupted during the shutdown. But she regularly relies on senior meal programs and local food banks to stretch that money as far as she can. “If I run out of money, then I have something extra that I can spend at the market for a meal,” Jefferies said, adding that she typically uses the benefits to buy bananas or a day-old loaf of bread for $1.50. An 80-year-old woman from Santa Monica, who asked not to be identified, said she lives in low-income senior housing and receives about $140 a month through CalFresh, which covers a little less than half of her monthly food allowance. She said she felt anxious and uncertain about how she was going to put food on the table if benefits lapsed, especially as food banks can be difficult to access with her mobility, transportation and medical dietary-restrictions. “This supposedly is one of the richest countries in the world, and yet people are wondering how they're going to eat,” she told LAist. “It's unfortunate that the people like me don't seem to matter.”Communities and local officials stepped up to help ease some pressure on food organizations during the six-week government shutdown, Veitzer and Flood said. Jewish Family Service L.A. raised money to give grocery cards to nearly 1,700 people they serve who may be hardest hit by a loss of benefits, for example. “We couldn't fully offset it, but we were able to provide significant funds to a lot of people to help keep them tied over during the initial part of the freeze,” Veitzer said. L.A. County committed $12 million to the L.A. Regional Food Bank in recent weeks, Flood said, which translates into about 6 million pounds of food, or roughly 5.5 million meals. County officials made a similar move The food bank also brought on thousands more volunteers over the course of the year, including in the aftermath ofJewish Family Service L.A. partners with a few local Costco’s, Gelson’s Markets, Target and Super King locations to pick-up proteins, produce, dry goods and other necessities for people in need. Veitzer calls it the “grocery store rescue process,” and he said they were able to add two more pickups during the shutdown. “At the end of the day, donations, volunteers aren't going to supplant the core underpinning of the benefits that people rely on,” he said. “But in the breach, it's made a huge difference.”CEO Eli Veitzer also encourages people to check-up on neighbors, especially older adults, to see if you can assist them directly.Veitzer doesn’t expect to see a drop in demand anytime soon because “so many people in Los Angeles are financially struggling.” “They're not making it, and there's no extra give in their systems,” he said. “And so it doesn't take much for a person to end up unable to pay rent, or unable to pay car insurance, or unable to buy food or medicine.” Veitzer said people have already signed up for future food pantry visits through Jewish Family Service L.A.’s app. “So they are anticipating coming back to the pantries even after the SNAP benefits get reinstated,” he said. The organization is also preparing to more than double the number of Thanksgiving meals it distributes this year from around 800 to 900 households to more than 2,000. Flood said the financial pressures people face with the high cost of living in L.A. County leads to continually high demand for food assistance, and it’s challenging for organizations to try and fill that “hunger gap” — even without a government shutdown. “It does feel like we're always kind of chasing, you know, sort of a higher demand that we're doing everything we can to try to fill,” Flood said.More than 40 members of the U.S. House, including 15 representatives from California, are demanding answers from federal authorities about the record number of people who died in immigration detention this year., sent today to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, follows two recent deaths of Orange County men detained at the Adelanto immigration detention center. LAist emailed the Department of Homeland Security with a request for comment and will update this story if and when we hear back.More than 40 members of the U.S. House, including 15 representatives from California, are demanding answers from federal authorities about the record number of people who died in immigration detention this year., sent today to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, follows two recent deaths of Orange County men detained at the Adelanto immigration detention center. LAist emailed the Department of Homeland Security with a request for comment and will update this story if and when we hear back.in Victorville after being taken into custody during a raid and then being detained at the Adelanto detention center, according to the letter andLISTEN: Health workers say ICE agents at hospitals are compromising patient care “This is now a systemic problem,” Rep. Dave Min, D - Irvine, told LAist. “It's inhumane, I believe it violates U.S. and international law, and ICE needs to get their act together.”shows immigration officials deported, arrested and detained tens of thousands of people from October through mid-November. The arrests led to a jump in the number of people held in immigration jails, withOn Monday, U.S. Rep. Robert Garcia, L.A. Mayor Karen Bass and other local leaders are holding a field hearing and press event in L.A. to discuss alleged unlawful detention and abuses by immigration agents of both immigrants and U.S. Citizens.Expert assessment: "Basically, we're out of fire season across all of Central and Southern California," said Matt Shameson, meteorologist with the U.S. Forest Service's South Ops Office, which regularly assesses wildfire conditions.The assessment is determined by a variety of factors, including dead and live fuel moisture, both of which are well above critical thresholds after recent storms. Vegetation is greening up, soils are getting saturated and dry creeks are starting to run again. As of late November, parts of Santa Barbara and Los Angeles counties have received between 5 to 9 times more rainfall than is normal for this time of year.We likely won't see any significant fire activity until April, when grasses dry out. Large scale forest fires in our mountains shouldn't be a concern until the middle of summer at the earliest. Fires along Southern California's coastal mountain ranges usually don't occur until the Santa Ana winds show up in late September or early October.We can't predict the weather. If we don't see any rain from here on out and only experience hot, dry and windy conditions, fire risk could return within a month. In that case, we'll be back to update you.should be out of the area by Saturday, and the Santa Ana winds are going to be showing up, according to the National Weather Service. With the ground saturated, trees are more susceptible to being knocked down by the wind. For the Thanksgiving holiday, expect mild weather and temperatures in the 70s if current forecasts hold.
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