82,000 gallons of water lost in Val Verde leak

VAL VERDE, LOS ANGELES COUNTY (KABC) -- Days after Gov. Jerry Brown ordered mandatory water restrictions, an estimated 82,000 gallons of water leaked from the Hasley Canyon Pump Station in Val Verde.

Kerjon Lee, public affairs manager for the Los Angeles County Department of Public Works, says the drive shaft in the pump station failed Friday night.

"I spoke to one of our crew members and he'd been working in this area for 20 or 30 years, and he'd never seen anything like it," Lee said. "The drive shaft was actually shot through the top of the pump and that's what caused the malfunction."

The water flowed for about three hours and roughly 72,000 gallons were lost. A normally dry creek bed in the area was subsequently filled with surging water.

The leak also damaged communications equipment that controls the flow of water going to two tanks that serve the community of Val Verde. Those tanks overflowed, resulting in another 10,000 gallons wasted.

The county lost a total of about 82,000 gallons of water, which is equivalent to how much water one person would use in a year, Lee said.

The water leak comes at a very bad time in the state's historic drought.

On Wednesday, Brown issued mandatory water restrictions for the first time in California history.

The order will increase enforcement to make sure people follow water rules. It also pushes to replace lawns with drought-tolerant landscaping and creates a rebate program to reward people for purchasing energy-efficient appliances.

Also, the order will require school campuses, golf courses, cemeteries and other large landscapes to significantly cut water use and ban watering of grass on public street medians.

The Hasley Canyon Pump Station was built in the 1960s, but officials say the age of the pump station was not a factor. Water service and water pressure to people in the community of Val Verde was not interrupted during the water leak.

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The Associated Press contributed to this report.