BEVERLY HILLS—The city of Beverly Hills informed residents and visitors to the region to avoid the area of Alpine Drive while crews work to fix a water main break that occurred on Friday, December 16.

“The City of Beverly Hills is working with the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California (MWD) and Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) to determine the exact source of the leak, as the area is serviced by multiple water lines.,” states a press release from Keith Sterling from the city of BH.

After the point of the leak is discovered, repairs are expected to be made.  The extent of the damage and duration of the repair has not been disclosed. The Metropolitan Water District (MWD) is the main water provider for Beverly Hills, and the city is preparing to be reliant on local water supplies.

Residents, businesses and visitors are asked to conserve water when possible, including the elimination of landscape watering for the next seven days.

As a precaution, a portion of Sunset Boulevard is temporarily closed at Alpine Drive.  Eastbound Sunset is closed at Rexford Drive with traffic being diverted north and south; traffic on southbound Alpine is being diverted to westbound Sunset; North Alpine Drive is closed. Westbound Sunset is restricted to one lane. Heavy traffic is anticipated.

The MWD started repairs on the water main on Monday, December 17. Repairing the leak, detected in Metropolitan Water District’s Santa Monica Feeder over the weekend, requires the pipeline to be entirely shut down, leaving Beverly Hills temporarily without its primary source of water for at least a week. The Metropolitan Water District will next finalize its repair plan. The Santa Monica Feeder was completed in 1941 and stretches 24 miles from Eagle Rock to Santa Monica and serves treated water to the cities of Glendale, Burbank, Los Angeles, Beverly Hills and Santa Monica.

“We need the help of our residents. We’re asking them to avoid watering their lawns and gardens, take shorter showers, avoid unnecessary loads of laundry and do whatever they can to keep their water use down,” said Beverly Hills Mayor Julian A. Gold. “We know it’s the holidays and it’s a sacrifice, but we also know our residents are willing to pitch in and help when needed.”

Drivers should avoid the area and plan for added commute times until the roadway is open back to the public. MWD is still determining the cause of the leak, said Jim Green, Metropolitan’s water system operations manager. The pipeline is made of cast iron and is 32 inches in diameter.

“We are working as quickly as we can to get this safely repaired so we can restore a
reliable water supply to the people and businesses of Beverly Hills,” said Green. “We appreciate their help in conserving as much as possible.”

Residents can visit www.bewaterwise.com for water-saving tips. Periodic updates on the
upgrade work also will be posted on www.mwdh2o.com. Questions may be directed to the Public Works Customer Service line at (310) 285-2467 during business hours or email askPW@beverlyhills.org for more details.