On 7/26/2015 3:07 PM, Hypatia Nachshon wrote:

Update: Disasters ARE happening. Every few days we get news that
another ancient main has broken with resultant damage to houses,
people displaced, traffic disrupted. Wonder who pays the bill for
public safety personnel and replacement of infrastructure. MWD
(Metropolitan Water District) has had a lot of nasty reports about
management.


The mains that have been breaking -- and wasting millions of gallons of
precious water -- are under the jurisdiction of the Los Angeles
Department of Water and Power (LA DWP), not the MWD. And it is the LA
DWP that has come under severe criticism in recent years for (among
other things) a botched roll-out of a new computer billing system,
payments to foundations controlled by the primary LA DWP labor union
without any accountability of how the money has been spent, and millions
of dollars transferred annual to the Los Angeles City budget but not
having enough money to replace centry-old water mains.

It is the LA DWP that reimburses businesses and home-owners for damaged
caused when a LA DWP main breaks. The LA DWP will soon be paying
several millions of dollars to UCLA for damage to campus buildings and
equipment for a double break. The same break resulted in destruction of
a number of private automobiles parked in an underground garage at UCLA,
andother liability against the LA DWP.

--
David E. Ross
Climate: California Mediterranean, see
http://www.rossde.com/garden/climate.html
Gardening diary at http://www.rossde.com/garden/diary