Lawsuit alleges that California's water supply for Los Angeles' wildfire response was allowed to run dry for months before the infernos.

A number of over a dozen victims of the Pacific Palisades Fire have filed lawsuits against a Los Angeles public utility company, alleging that the company's "failures" worsened the fire's destruction.

Last week, a lawsuit was filed against the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power by community residents and a pizzeria owner, accusing the department of being unprepared for the Palisades Fire and allowing a critical water supply to remain dry before the inferno that lawyers claimed was "the worst natural disaster in the history of the City of Los Angeles," according to court documents obtained by Planet Chronicle Digital.

Pacific Palisades' water supply system failed disastrously, leaving residents and firefighters with limited water to fight the fire, according to attorney Roger Behle, who represents one of the Palisades Fire survivors and whose own family lost their home to wildfire in 2020.

The Santa Ynez Reservoir, a 117-million-gallon water storage complex that is part of the Los Angeles water supply system, had been empty for nearly a year.

The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power allegedly shut down the Santa Ynez Reservoir in February 2024 due to "water quality concerns" after a tear in the floating cover allowed debris, bird droppings, and other objects to enter the water supply.

The Palisades Fire broke out before the required repair work was completed, leaving fire crews with "little to no water" to fight the flames, according to the lawsuit.

Attorneys argue that the LADWP made a deliberate choice not to promptly fix the Santa Ynez Reservoir cover, resulting in the reservoir being empty and unusable, in an effort to save money.

The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power drained the reservoir to seek contractor bids instead of using in-house personnel for repairs, according to the lawsuit.

The Palisades Fire caused more damage than any benefits that could have been gained by outsourcing and postponing repairs to the Santa Ynez Reservoir, according to attorneys representing the fire survivors.

Gavin Newsom, the Governor of California, ordered an independent investigation into the LADWP on January 10th regarding the loss of water pressure and the intentional shutdown of the reservoir, which he deemed "deeply troubling," according to court records.

The loss of water pressure "probably hindered" firefighters' ability to safeguard homes and evacuation zones in the Pacific Palisades, as stated by Newsom.

According to documents, Los Angeles Fire Department Captain Erik Scott stated that there were difficulties in maintaining water pressure while fighting the Pacific Palisades fire, and the water pressure was not sufficient.

Despite "dire warnings" by the National Weather Service of "critical fire weather" with the potential for "rapid fire spread and extreme fire behavior," the LADWP was not adequately prepared for the Palisades Fire.

The lawsuit alleges that LADWP failed to fulfill its responsibilities to construct, inspect, maintain, and operate its water supply system properly.

The public utility company is being sued by the residents of Pacific Palisades for property damage and personal injuries.

The Palisades Fire has been a devastating experience for its victims, who were left homeless in a matter of hours despite not being at fault, resulting in the death of at least eight people, injuries to many civilians and firefighters, and the destruction of over 5,300 homes and businesses in the Pacific Palisades, Malibu, and Topanga Canyon.

Neither the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power nor Newsom's office provided an immediate response for comment.