In Focus
San Fernando Groundwater Basin Remediation Program Becomes a Local Treasure for Customers
By Michael Ventre
Expanding the local supply of drinking water for Angelenos continues to be a strategic priority for LADWP. The San Fernando Groundwater Basin Remediation Program is an example of how expertise, ingenuity and determination can turn contaminated water into an important contribution to LADWP’s water supply.
As the city of L.A. confronts extremes in weather conditions and addresses other challenges, LADWP is committed to providing a water supply that is resilient, reliable, sustainable, high quality and cost effective. LADWP gets its water from a variety of sources, from the Eastern Sierra and Owens Valley via the Los Angeles Aqueduct, to the Northern Sierra and Sacramento-San Joaquin delta via the State Water Project, the Colorado River via the Colorado River Aqueduct, and local water supplies including recycled water and groundwater.
The quest to increase local sources of water and in turn reduce dependence on purchased water is ongoing. Currently, about 90 percent of Los Angeles’s water comes from outside the Los Angeles basin. It is estimated that seven percent of L.A.’s water supply comes from local groundwater.
Tapping into the Possibilities of More Groundwater in Water Supply
The groundwater category is one of the more fascinating sources given its locality, and the San Fernando Groundwater Basin Remediation Program is a success story that is really just beginning. Although design and construction have been ongoing for some time, the three facilities involved – North Hollywood West, North Hollywood Central, and Tujunga Central Remediation Facilities – are expected to deliver treated water into the city’s water supply by late 2025 and into 2026, representing a boost from local sources.
“Once those facilities are all operational, we have the potential to increase the groundwater portion of our water supply to 20 or 21 percent,” said Ana Avelar, who serves as LADWP’s project manager for North Hollywood Central and Tujunga Central.
Groundwater remediation was made necessary because of contamination that occurred decades ago by industry in the area. LADWP’s Groundwater Remediation Program is designed to protect public health and the environment by reducing exposure to chemicals, limiting the migration of contaminants that prevent the full beneficial use of groundwater, and removing the contaminants from groundwater in the vicinity of the impacted well fields.
The goal of the program is to fully restore the City’s allocation of groundwater from the San Fernando Basin, a critical local water resource that has been limited due to contamination affecting nearly 50 percent of LADWP’s groundwater wells. The three aforementioned projects were created to meet these objectives.
After a Study is Conducted, Construction Begins
In 2015, LADWP completed the San Fernando Basin Groundwater System Improvement Study (GSIS). Based on the results of that six-year effort, two sites in North Hollywood and one in Tujunga were designated as being the most promising locations for groundwater remediation.
LADWP completed the GSIS in response to the continued degradation of water quality within the San Fernando Basin (SFB). The GSIS helped LADWP better understand groundwater conditions to the north and west of the North Hollywood, Rinaldi-Toluca and Tujunga Well Fields. Some of the specific objectives of the GSIS included organizing existing data, with an emphasis on hydrogeology and water quality; conducting additional field investigations; updating the characterization of the groundwater basin with data analysis in several areas; and providing recommendations for future investigations, if any.
“Those three areas were identified as being the most promising locations because we had existing infrastructure in place that we could utilize,” noted Todd Rother, a manager in the Water Engineering and Technical Services (WETS) Project Management Office.
There were some hurdles to overcome. For instance, North Hollywood Central is in the middle of a dense residential neighborhood, which required great sensitivity to the area. “A lot of community outreach was required,” Avelar said. “The neighbors weren’t too happy with the level of noise. Christina Holland (in LADWP's Communications and Community Affairs Division) was amazing in terms of keeping on top of outreach. We made sure there was no heavy noise early in the morning or in the evening.”
North Hollywood West began construction in 2017. In 2024, the facility received its permit to operate from the Division of Drinking Water. North Hollywood Central received its permit to operate in August 2025, and operation is expected in January 2026. Tujunga Central is expected to receive its permit in March 2026.
Rother oversees the North Hollywood West project, which was built in-house at LADWP. Rubalcaba oversees North Hollywood Central and Tujunga Central, both of which were constructed with “design-build” contracts using outside contractors. Both Rubalcaba and Rother are managers in the WETS Project Management Office.
LADWP has a variety of well fields in the area from which groundwater is pumped and then transported to the remediation facilities. Then the water is sent through an extensive treatment process that involves chlorination, fluoridation, UV treatment and ammoniation before it is then directed into existing infrastructure that places it into the water supply.
The three facilities have a combined capacity of 104,041 acre feet, which is enough water to supply about 400,000 homes per year in the City of Los Angeles.
““In my 36-year career, this is in the top three of all the projects I’ve worked on. It’s very unique, the first of its kind where we have had to clean up groundwater. This project is technologically advanced. It was also unique working with all the different groups – the project team, the contractor, other LADWP teams in Water Operations and Community Affairs, all with the support of our regulators, the Department of Drinking Water.”
Louis Rubalcaba, Manager, WETS Project Management Group
The challenge of providing locally sourced drinking water to Angelenos is ongoing. The San Fernando Groundwater Basin Remediation Program, while not yet fully operational, is a key solution and is already another LADWP success story.
