When three 1-million-gallon capacity water storage tanks in Pacific Palisades went dry Tuesday night, firefighters were forced to abandon efforts to save thousands of homes. LA Department of Water and Power (LADWP) CEO Janisse Quiñones has repeatedly claimed during press conferences that her utility did everything it could to prepare for the forecasted wind event and support the Los Angeles Fire Department as it responded, but left out one key fact: the Santa Ynez Reservoir in the hills above Pacific Palisades, which holds 117 million gallons of water and normally feeds those tanks, had been drained and taken offline for repairs to its cover even though the state's brush fire season was ongoing.

The LAFD Watchdog Instagram account broke the news Thursday night:

The group wrote:

"The Santa Ynez Reservoir, which holds 117 million gallons of water and supplies three tanks in the Palisades area, was drained for maintenance during brush fire season. While the three tanks, each with a capacity of 1 million gallons, were full at the time of the fire, they were unable to meet the demand without the reservoir to refill them. This reckless decision to take the reservoir offline left firefighters without sufficient water and severely hindered their efforts. DWP CEO Janisse Quiñones has failed to disclose this critical information and instead blamed "extreme demand" on the system. Her lack of transparency and leadership in this preventable failure demands her immediate resignation."

The Los Angeles Times followed up on LAFD Watchdog's post and confirmed with LADWP officials that the reservoir had been drained for repairs. The outlet also spoke to a former DWP general manager, Martin Adams, who said that if the reservoir had been online it would have extended water pressure, but that:

“You still would have ended up with serious drops in pressure,” Adams said in an interview Thursday. “Would Santa Ynez [Reservoir] have helped? Yes, to some extent. Would it have saved the day? I don’t think so.”

Officials haven't said how long the reservoir has been offline, but Adams told the LA Times that it had been empty "for a while" due to a tear in the cover.

Quiñones blamed the inability to refill the tanks on excessive demand and fire conditions preventing crews from rerouting water to refill one tank:

DWP Chief Executive Officer Janisse Quiñones said the tanks could not be refilled fast enough and that demand at lower elevations hampered the ability to pump water to tanks at higher elevations. In one case, DWP crews attempting to reroute water to refill a tank had to be evacuated, officials said.

Quiñones said four times the usual demand for water on the trunk line over a 15-hour period led to drops in water pressure.

Janisse Quiñones, CEO & chief engineer of the Los Angeles Department of Water & Power, struggled to explain why fire hydrants ran dry during the devastating wildfires ravaging Los Angeles

At a press conference, Quiñones revealed all water storage tanks in Pacific Palisades "went… pic.twitter.com/QnjjGXkbFp

— True Crime Updates (@TrueCrimeUpdat) January 10, 2025

Adams told the LA Times that if the reservoir had been online the demand might have been three times as high, but it wouldn't have fully prevented the disaster:

Had the Santa Ynez Reservoir been in use in that period, Adams estimated, that demand might have been three times as high. Water in the reservoir would have fed the firefighting equipment and helped the pump stations push water to the storage tanks. But the reservoir “wouldn’t have lasted forever and would not have been a fix-all,” Adams said. 

“Eventually, you would have gotten to the same place,” he added. Adams cautioned that he was basing his assertion on a rough estimate, and that he had not calculated the specific impact.

A LADWP spokesperson said in a statement to the LA Times that the utility was "still evaluating the effect of the reservoir being placed offline, and that staffers were conducting a root-cause analysis." The spokesperson added, “Our primary focus is to provide water supply throughout the city. The system was never designed for a wildfire scenario that we are experiencing.”

Why not? The system, at least in the Palisades, is in an area where a suburban area adjoins rural, difficult-to-access mountains and canyons, and where wildfire risk is often high.

Quiñones came to LADWP in May, 2024 from another beleaguered utility, Northern California's Pacific Gas & Electric, replacing Adams. While Adam was paid $435,000 a year, Quinones was hired in at a salary of $750,000. At the time, LA City Council President Paul Krekorian said: 

"This council will be considering many important appointments that the mayor will be making, but very few will be as consequential as this one. Leadership of the DWP is absolutely vital to this city.''

Responding to criticism of the huge salary, Councilmember Kevin de León said LADWP needed to offer a competitive salary to attract top talent:

"Her salary without question is (nearly) doubled from her predecessor, but she comes from the private sector. She comes from an investor-owned utility where she could easily command twice that amount."

Residents of Los Angeles need to ask for a refund, because this hire was clearly deficient.