Malfunction at Reservoir Floods House With Water

A house in Santa Monica was flooded early Tuesday when one of two shut-off valves at the city-owned Franklin Reservoir malfunctioned, causing thousands of gallons of drinking water to overflow, officials said.

Heidi Taylor awoke about 4:30 a.m. to the sound of what she thought was rain, and found two inches of water on the floor of her rented house, said Roni Roseberg, spokeswoman for the Santa Monica Fire Department.

The backyard in the 900 block of Centinela Avenue held three to four feet of water, Roseberg said. The reservoir is uphill from the house, in the 900 block of Franklin Street.

Water superintendent Bob Harvey said two valves normally shut off the flow of water into the reservoir when it reaches its 5-million-gallon capacity. One valve malfunctioned when a broken conduit allowed water to seep into the valve and short it out, Harvey said.

Approximately 200,000 gallons overflowed the reservoir. The overflow is channeled first to a catch basin, Harvey said, but when that backed up the excess flooded into Taylor’s yard.

Roseberg said the overflow was stopped and the house cleaned up before 7 a.m. She said the city plans to pay for damage to the home, which was estimated at $15,000.