The City of Los Angeles, as well as the entire Southern California population of over 22 million people, is highly dependent on water imported through the Los Angeles, California and Colorado River Aqueducts. The San Andreas Fault poses one of the greatest risks to these critical water supply lines; all three aqueducts cross the San Andreas Fault. A preliminary review of potential damage to these three major aqueducts in response to a magnitude 7.8 earthquake scenario on the San Andreas Fault was performed. The results indicate repairs to restore flow into each aqueduct may take a year or more. Local storage is estimated to last approximately 6 months with significant rationing. As a result, there may be inadequate storage to supply the local population during the length of time it takes to repair the aqueducts. Inadequate water storage has significant health, safety and economic impacts on the Southern California region. This investigation identifies the need for a more thorough evaluation of aqueduct restoration times. In addition, mitigation measures for additional local storage and more rapid aqueduct restoration must be implemented.
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Research Article|
September 01 2010
Los Angeles water supply impacts from a M7.8 San Andreas Fault earthquake scenario
Craig A. Davis
1Department of Water and Power, 111 North Hope Street, Room 1368, Los Angeles CA 90012, USA
Tel.: +1 213-367-0855 Fax: +1 213-367-3792; E-mail: craig.davis@ladwp.com
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Journal of Water Supply: Research and Technology-Aqua (2010) 59 (6-7): 408–417.
Article history
Received:
September 30 2009
Accepted:
January 20 2010
Citation
Craig A. Davis; Los Angeles water supply impacts from a M7.8 San Andreas Fault earthquake scenario. Journal of Water Supply: Research and Technology-Aqua 1 September 2010; 59 (6-7): 408–417. doi: https://doi.org/10.2166/aqua.2010.006
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Craig A. Davis; Los Angeles water supply impacts from a M7.8 San Andreas Fault earthquake scenario. Journal of Water Supply: Research and Technology-Aqua 1 September 2010; 59 (6-7): 408–417. doi: https://doi.org/10.2166/aqua.2010.006
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CiteScore 2.0