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California

UCLA flooding is latest black eye for L.A.’s aging water system

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Workers level out the pavement before laying the asphalt on Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles on Sunday, Aug. 3.  (Christina House / For The Times)
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Workers prepare to lay asphalt on Sunset Boulevard.  (Christina House / For The Times)
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Damaged vehicles are towed out of parking structure 4 at UCLA on Sunday.   (Christina House / For The Times)
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Work crews continue repairs to the broken water main along Sunset Boulevard.  (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
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Work crews continue repairs to the water main that ruptured on July 29, sending “more than 20 million gallons” of water coursing across the UCLA campus.  (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
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UCLA students and faculty wait to retrieve their cars Aug. 1 after the vehicles were marooned in one of the two UCLA parking structures flooded after a 90-year-old water main burst earlier in the week.  (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
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Cars are removed from UCLA’s parking structure No. 4. Of the estimated 1,000 stranded vehicles, about 400 were “deemed to be inoperable due to the water damage,” UCLA spokesman Tod M. Tamberg told The Times.   (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
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Work crews continue repairs after the rupture of the water main that flooded the UCLA campus.   (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
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Workers continue the repairs. The water that inundated the UCLA campus drenched the wooden basketball floor of storied Pauley Pavilion.  (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
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Workers on Wednesday assess the damage to a 90-year-old water main that ruptured Tuesday under Sunset Boulevard.  (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
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Los Angeles City Council members and DWP officials assess the damage to the ruptured line.  (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
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Parking structure 7 at UCLA remains flooded. An estimated 900 vehicles are marooned in two garages.  (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
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City Council members with DWP officials at the rupture site. Officials have balked at water rate hikes to repair the aging water lines faster.  (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
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Sand bags line the entrance to UCLA’s Pauley Pavilion on Wednesday, the day after water spewing from a ruptured main under Sunset Boulevard deluged the area.  (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
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Workers clean up near the entrance to UCLA’s Pauley Pavilion on Wednesday, a day after water from a ruptured main on Sunset Boulevard flooded the area.  (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
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A water main break on Sunset Boulevard flooded much of the UCLA campus Tuesday afternoon. A portion of Sunset, one of Los Angeles’ main arteries, was shut down. Cleanup crews arrived to help sweep and shovel away the debris left in the wake of the flood.   (Michael Robinson Chavez / Los Angeles Times)
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DWP employees work after a major water main break sent a torrent of water blasting through Sunset Boulevard north of the UCLA campus, closing Sunset between Veteran and Hilgard avenues and flooding parts of the UCLA campus.   (Jabin Botsford / Los Angeles Times)
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Emergency personnel head down into a parking garage below the UCLA athletic field after a major water main break sent water blasting through Sunset Boulevard north of the UCLA campus. Sunset was closed between Veteran and Hilgard avenues while fire crews worked to make sure no motorists were trapped in the water.  (Jabin Botsford / Los Angeles Times)
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Firefighters stack sandbags and shovel dirt at Pauley Pavilion after the water main break on Sunset Boulevard.  (Jabin Botsford / Los Angeles Times)
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Students wade past Pauley Pavilion after after the water main break on Sunset.  (Jabin Botsford / Los Angeles Times)
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A car sits stuck in water after a major water main break on Sunset Boulevard.  (Jabin Botsford / Los Angeles Times)
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Water is cleared from the floor of Pauley Pavilion on the UCLA campus after a water main broke on Sunset Boulevard.  (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)
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Water is cleared from the floor of Pauley Pavilion on the UCLA campus after a water main broke on Sunset Boulevard.  (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)
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Clint Svatos takes a break from removing water from the floor of Pauley Pavilion on the UCLA campus after a water main broke on Sunset Boulevard.  (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)
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A man photographs a statue of John R. Wooden outside a flooded Pauley Pavilion at UCLA.  (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)
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Water is cleared from inside Pauley Pavilion on the UCLA campus after a water main broke on Sunset Boulevard.  (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)
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Sonia Curry walks with her children, Fox, 4, and Banjo, 2, on the UCLA campus in Westwood as water from a main break on Sunset Boulevard flooded several streets.  (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)
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DWP workers watch a water main break on Sunset Boulevard near the UCLA campus in Westwood.  (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)
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An LAPD officer monitors the site of a water main break on Sunset Blvd. near the UCLA campus.  (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)
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Jerry Markham, director of design and project management for facilities management at UCLA, wades into a flooded walkway after a water main break on Sunset Boulevard near the UCLA campus.  (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)
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UCLA student Alec Maassen, 21, rides a skim board on a flooded street after a water main break occurred under Sunset Blvd.  (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)
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Water spews from a broken main on Sunset Boulevard near the UCLA campus.  (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)
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Water continued to shoot for several hours from a main break on Sunset Boulevard near the UCLA campus in Westwood.  (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)
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Water from a main break on Sunset Boulevard spills down into a parking garage on the UCLA campus.  (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)
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A massive water break near the UCLA campus left athletic facilities saturated with water.  (Ryan Menezes / Los Angeles Times)
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Workers use construction equipment to move earth in an attempt to stop flooding after a massive rupture sent thousands of gallons of water streaming through the UCLA campus.  (James Queally / Los Angeles Times)
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Water from a ruptured water main is visible on the UCLA campus.  (James Queally / Los Angeles Times)
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A water main break near UCLA left the school’s track under a a substantial amount of water Tuesday.  (James Queally / Los Angeles Times)
By Joseph Serna
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The water main break that flooded parts of the UCLA campus Tuesday marks the latest in a series of problems for Los Angeles’ aging water delivery system.

Mayor Eric Garcetti said the pipe involved was installed in 1921.

Some 7,200 miles of pipe -- moving about 600 million gallons of water each day -- run beneath the city’s streets. Much of the infrastructure dates from the 1920s and the years just after World War II, two periods when housing construction boomed.

In 2009, the problem got attention because of a series of breaks. In one case, a burst line damaged businesses along Ventura Boulevard in Studio City. In another, a firetruck was swallowed by a leak that caused a San Fernando Valley street to give way.

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The city is in the midst of a multiyear, $4-billion upgrade of the water system, part of which involves replacing and fixing aging pipes.

As of 2009, the city reported that about 1,400 pipes failed each year.

Earlier this month, the Department of Water and Power provided the following information when responding to a Times request for information about another water main break:

“We typically experience an average of 3 – 4 leaks and pipe breaks each day and we respond as quickly as possible to minimize water loss and restore service.”

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Joseph Serna

Joseph Serna is the deputy editor of culture and talent at the Los Angeles Times and helps oversee its career training and recruitment efforts.

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