background

The City of Beverly Hills is in the process of designing two groundwater wells (the Le Doux well and the Gregory well) in the unadjudicated portion of the Central Basin (La Brea subarea).  In addition, this project will include a water line that would connect the future production wells to the City’s existing raw water transmission main that leads to the Foothill Water Treatment Plant (WTP) for treatment and supply. 

This project will support improvement of local water supply reliability for the City by developing up to 900 acre feet per year (AFY) of new potable water supply. The Le Doux well (LCW-2) will be located at the southwest corner of La Cienega Park near the intersection of Le Doux Road and Olympic Boulevard.  The Gregory well (LCW-3) will be located at the northeast corner of the park near the intersection of Greagory Way and Gale Drive.

project description

The 2015 Water Enterprise Plan (WEP) evaluated and identified several options for the City of Beverly Hills to reduce its dependence on the Metropolitan Water District (MWD) imported water and increase its water reliability.  Those options included several recommendations including increased conservation measures, groundwater development, water banking, recycled water and other supply alternatives.  The City chose the recommended option to pursue and revamp its groundwater development in the unadjudicated portion of the Central Basin (La Brea subarea).  Consequently, a Preliminary Design Report (PDR) was prepared by Hazen & Sawyer that evaluated the viability of installing three additional groundwater wells in the Central Basin, conveyance pipeline, and treatment at the existing Foothill Water Treatment Plant.

The first well, LCW-1, was constructed on a City owned property located at 1956 Chariton Street in Los Angeles.  This construction began in early 2020 and was completed earlier this year.  The raw water transmission main from LCW-1 to the WTP was constructed between June 2020 and June 2021.  Since the development of LCW-1 started in 2020, staff has continued to search for other properties that may be suitable for groundwater production wells.  Unfortunately, no suitable properties were acquired.  To supplement groundwater supply, staff was instructed to pursue construction of wells at La Cienega Park.