The water infrastructure intended to combat the recent Palisades fire in Los Angeles proved inadequate, becoming overwhelmed during what has been classified as the most devastating fire in the city’s history. In an unfortunate turn of events, some hydrants ran dry when demand outstripped supply, mainly due to a lack of support from firefighting aircraft for several hours early Wednesday.
The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power attempted to supplement the system through aqueducts and groundwater; however, the immense demand was too great for the agency to replenish three crucial 1-million-gallon tanks situated in the hilly Pacific Palisades. These tanks are essential for providing adequate pressure to the neighborhood’s hydrants, and many of them went dry while more than 1,000 structures were consumed by flames.
The situation led to a wave of criticism on social media, notably from President-elect Donald Trump, who pointed fingers at Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and Governor Gavin Newsom regarding their water management strategies. State and local officials, however, were quick to respond, emphasizing that critics were conflating unrelated issues and disseminating false narratives during the emergency. They defended that the hydrant challenges were not a result of state water distribution decisions or a lack of water supply in the area.
On his Truth Social media network, Trump linked the situation to broader debates about California’s water management, which seeks to balance the needs of agriculture and urban areas with the conservation of endangered species like the Delta smelt. Trump has consistently favored farmers in the ongoing struggle for California’s limited water resources.
Janisse Quiñones, the head of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, announced during a press conference that the system had access to 3 million gallons of water at the fire’s inception, but the demand surged to four times what was typically encountered. She explained that hydrants are designed to accommodate just one or two homes at a time, not to provide for hundreds simultaneously. Mayor Bass noted that approximately 20% of hydrants experienced shortages.
“This is a crisis where lives are in danger. Families have been split apart, children have lost their schools, and entire communities have been devastated. It’s irresponsible to politicize this tragedy,” responded Governor Newsom during an interview on CNN, contrasting Trump’s statements with the support being extended by President Joe Biden to affected areas.
Peter Gleick, a senior fellow at the Pacific Institute, a nonprofit focused on water sustainability, dismissed Trump’s comments as irrelevant, insisting that the ongoing disputes between farmers and environmentalists had no bearings on firefighting water supplies in Southern California.
Even though about 40% of Los Angeles’s water supply is sourced from state-managed projects in Northern California, where the Delta smelt resides, the reservoirs in Southern California fed by these systems are currently at above-average capacity for this time of year. Rick Caruso, a prominent real estate developer and former water department commissioner who competed against Bass in the last mayoral election, urged officials to take accountability for the shortcomings of the water system.
“We’ve witnessed thousands of homes and businesses destroyed,” he commented. “There must be a way to ensure hydrants are adequately supplied; there’s no room for excuses here.”
With climate change caused by human activity exacerbating wildfire conditions, experts warn that Los Angeles isn’t alone in facing the challenges posed by firefighting demands on public water supplies.
Significant urban fires can lead to pipe damage, resulting in leaks that diminish water pressure. Andrew Whelton, an engineering professor at Purdue University, indicated that homes featuring water meters with remote shutoff capabilities may help utilities manage such losses more effectively.
In Hawaii this year, a blaze swept through the historic Lahaina town, killing over 100 individuals. The rapid spread of the fire led to pipe ruptures that hindered efforts to maintain adequate water pressure for firefighting. Similarly, in Colorado during the 2021 Marshall Fire, workers had to manually open valves to admit untreated water from local rivers, restoring pressure but also risking contamination.
Commenting on Caruso’s assertion regarding pressure loss being indicative of mismanagement, Greg Pierce, a professor of urban environmental policy at the University of California, argued that supplying sufficient water could equate to a subsidy for affluent areas. He emphasized the need to rethink the habitability of certain regions.
John Fisher, a retired battalion chief with San Diego Fire-Rescue, remarked that California excels in organizing shared resources and staffing to combat major fires. “We make it work by pre-positioning resources and staffing reserve engines,” he noted, indicating that while the situation was dire, efforts would progress as conditions changed and more firefighters were deployed.
