The Los Angeles water agency does not have a safety procedure in place to keep hydrants pumping

The Los Angeles municipal corporation does not have a standard safety procedure that could have stopped pumping water to shut off water mains during an intentional power outage, although President Biden said the outage caused the problem.

Republicans, including President-elect Trump, have blamed Democratic officials — at least in part — for the water shortage, which has hampered efforts to fight the devastating fires in Los Angeles County. However, Democrats have criticized the claims, and on Thursday Biden suggested that the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) was responsible for shutting off the power to the water pumps.

“What I know from talking to the governor, there is concern over there that there has been a water shortage,” Biden told reporters. “The reality is that the utilities, understandably, are turning off the power because they’re worried that the power lines will be knocked down and more fires will start. When they did that, they cut off the hydroelectric power – that’s what happened. It caused a lack of water in these water mains.”

Biden noted that generators are being used following the shutdown to restore electricity to the pumps and ensure that there is no longer a shortage of water to put out fires.

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But a Wall Street Journal report revealed Friday revealed that LADWP is the only major utility company in California without an intentional shutdown protocol, known as the “public safety power shutdown” process. The protocol lays out plans for how to permanently shut down certain power lines during severe storms and limit the impact on public safety.

“Preparing for a power outage takes careful planning, starting with properly designing our water systems and working with local fire departments and power companies to ensure public safety,” explained California Water Service, the state’s private utility provider. its FAQ website page about public safety power outages.

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“We are going above and beyond our normal procedures to ensure that water service is not interrupted during a power outage,” the company added. “Cal Water has been installing permanent generators at many of our critical stations over the years, and we are working to bring more portable generators to other stations. Our staff and employees have been trained in emergency response procedures in the event of these outages.”

Michael Wara, an attorney who directs the Climate and Energy Policy Program at Stanford University and studies wildfire mitigation strategies, added in comments to the Wall Street Journal that “there is no need to make any trade-offs between reliability and safety.”

Firefighters battle the Kenneth Fire in the West Hills section of Los Angeles, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025. (Photo/Ethan Swope)

Edward Ring, director of water and energy policy for the California Policy Center, confirmed that there are steps that can be taken to maintain power at the pumps during an intentional shutdown.

“They need to put these power lines underground, which would be a solution, or they need parallel systems that go to essential services like fire pumps that are not on the same circuit as the line that goes into the house,” said Ring. .

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A spokesperson for LADWP told Fox News Digital that while there is no protocol for shutting off public power in Los Angeles, it has a different process in place to reduce fire hazards while continuing essential operations. A spokesperson said the Los Angeles urban environment is different from the conditions used by other California companies.

“LADWP worked closely with the Los Angeles Fire Department to develop this emergency system,” the spokesperson said. “The LADWP program is audited every 3 years by an independent third party and submitted to state regulators as needed.”

But, in the past, according to the Wall Street Journal, LADWP has asserted that it will not shut off power before strong winds.

A firefighter pulls a hose from a water hydrant while fighting the Eaton Fire, after a hydrant ran out of water, as strong winds fueled the devastating fires in the Los Angeles area forcing people to evacuate, in Altadena, California, US January. 9, 2025. (REUTERS/Fred Greaves)

A former firefighter in Los Angeles, John Knox, who spoke to Fox News on Friday, said he was surprised to hear that the fire hoses were running out, adding that there are many things people need to ask in order to find answers. of those who call themselves leaders.”

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“In my line of work I’ve never seen it – every once in a while you might have a dry hydrant, but we do an annual inspection in January when we inspect all the firefighters and it didn’t happen this year,” Knox said. . “That place has a big dam with four big tanks that have to be filled all the time. I understand that they had one of them that has not been repaired for the past year during the beach season.

“There are many issues and many things that people need to ask in order to get answers from these so-called leaders.