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our history
1940's Chlorine Barge - courtesy DWP Archives
The following is a chronology of our events and activities since our inception in 1989:
 1988-1989
- October 1988 - DWP announces plans to cover Ivanhoe Reservoir
- November 1988 - CSSLR founded
- February 1989 - CSSLR formed as nonprofit public benefit corporation
- February 1989 - CSSLR becomes a founding member of the Coalition to Preserve Open Reservoirs (CPOR) to work with other reservoir communities on their multi-million dollar water quality improvement projects (ongoing)
- March 1989 - CSSLR and Silver Lake Residents Association (SLRA) successfully apply to designate the Silver Lake and Ivanhoe Reservoirs L.A. Cultural-Historic Monument #422. The designation is limited to the dams and the bodies of water.
- March 1989 - 1st Community Meeting (500+ attendees)
- December 1989 - Town Hall meeting with State Assembly Member Mike Roos
(200+ attendees)
- February/July/November/December 1989 - Community Newsletters*
1990
- February 1990 - Program Environmental Impact Report (PEIR) Scoping Meeting held at Marshall High (800-1000 attendees)
- April 1990 - 1st CSSLR Fundraiser with Patrick Stewart & Gates McFadden at Marshall High
- June 1990 - L.A. City Council rejects PEIR process, instructs DWP to provide individual EIR's for each open reservoir project
- October 1990 - Community Meeting with DWP Commissioner Mary Nichols
- December 1990 - Participation begins in the City Council-mandated mediation with the DWP (ongoing)
- February/April/July/October 1990 - Community Newsletters*
1991
- April 1991 - CSSLR surveys community for guidance on mediation stances
- May 1991 - State Assembly Candidates' Forum (500+ attendees)
- September 1991 - 1st House & Reservoir Tour Fundraiser (1000+ attendees)
- November 1991 - Silver Lake Rec Center reconstruction meeting**
- January/March/June/September/December 1991 - Community Newsletters*
1992
- March 1992 - Community Meeting with Jim Wickser, Head of DWP Water
(450+ attendees)
- January/April/July 1992 - Community Newsletters*
1993
- March 1993 - Ivanhoe Reservoir Repaving Community Meeting
- March 1993 - City Council Candidate's Forum
- June 1993 - Silver Lake Chlorine Workshop
- June 1993 - DWP informs CSSLR that a filtration plant on the Meadow is a near certainty
- July 1993 - Ivanhoe Dam Landscaping Workshop
- September 1993 - Ivanhoe Reservoir Repaving & Bypass Line Construction Workshop
- September 1993 - 2nd House & Reservoir Tour Fundraiser (drawing included boat tour as prize) Reservoir Tour cancelled due to DWP strike.
- December 1993 - Ivanhoe Reservoir drained for relining & bypass line construction
- January/March/July/December 1993 - Community Newsletters*
1994
- August 1994 - Silver Lake Rec Center Design/1st Proposed Dog Park Community Meeting (250+ attendees)**
- September 1994 - Ivanhoe Reservoir relandscaping completed
- September 1994 - Reservoir Tour Fundraiser
- Fall 1994 - CSSLR Community Poetry Contest
- Fall 1994 - DWP announces new water quality guidelines that could threaten to cover both Ivanhoe and Silver Lake Reservoirs
- Summer & Fall 1994 - Community Newsletters*
1995-1996
- 1995 - Ivanhoe Reservoir refilled
- February 1996 - CSSLR & SLRA unite to develop Silver Lake Master Plan (SLMP)
- March 1996 - Community Newsletter*
- April 1996 - Secret Gardens Tour
- May 1996 - "Katie S." barge launched to test experimental mixers in the Silver Lake Reservoir
1997
- Spring 1997 - DWP enters agreement to develop SLMP
- Spring 1997 - CSSLR urges DWP to instate Aleppo Pines tree-care program
- Spring 1997 - Community Newsletter*
1998
- Spring 1998 - Community Meeting - DWP General Manager S. David Freeman announces DWP-funded contract for Silver Lake Master Plan
- 1998 - Developed a scope of work for the Silver Lake Reservoir Master Plan
- April 1998 - Spring Garden Tour Fundraiser
- Fall 1998 - Mia Lehrer & Associates selected to create Silver Lake Master Plan
- Fall 1998 - State Senator Adam Schiff and State Assembly Member Scott Wildman pledge support for Silver Lake Master Plan implementation
1999
- February 1999 - City-wide chlorine storage depot moved off-site
- March 1999 – Reservoir Master Plan Workshop #1
- May 1999 – Reservoir Master Plan Workshop #2
- July 1999 – Reservoir Master Plan Workshop #3
(550+ attendees total across 3 meetings)
- Fall 1999 - Results of
Silver Lake Master Plan workshops announced
- October 1999 - House Tour Fundraiser
- Fall 1999 – Community Newsletter*
2001
- March 2001 – Public presentation of completed Silver Lake Master Plan
- March 2001 – Candidates’ Forum for 13th Council District Seat
(200+ attendees)
- Spring 2001 - www.csslr.org 1st launched
- Spring 2001 - Community Newsletter*
- October 2001 - State Assembly Member Dario Frommer secures a $2.3 million grant for Master Plan implementation from the State Natural Resources Fund
- November 2001 – Three CSSLR Directors, 1 SLRA Member and 12 others named to Master Plan Steering Committee by City Councilmember Eric Garcetti; Council District 13
- Winter 2001 – Community Newsletter*
2002-2003
- November 2002 – Silver Lake Water Quality Improvement Project Workshop
(400+ attendees)
- 2003-2006 - Silver Lake Replacement Project Draft EIR Process
- January 2003 - Community Workshop re: Cingular Cell Tower Proposal
(200+ attendees)
- October 2003 – Initial Scoping Meeting for DWP Water Storage Project EIR
- November 2003 – Community Workshop: Phase 1 Master Plan Improvements
(500+ attendees, 300+ survey respondents)
- Fall 2003 – Community Newsletter*
2007
- March 2007 - Council President Eric Garcetti announces at Silver Lake Chamber of Commerce Summit maintenance funding is secured for Phase 3 Meadow Park
- April 2007 - Open Meadow Speakout: Phase 3 Meadow (3rd Workshop)
- April 2007 - Construction begins on Phase 2 path
- April 2007 - 1st Day of Beauty: Community volunteer path weeding event in conjunction with Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's citywide Day of Service
*CSSLR Newsletters mailed to approximately 15,000 addresses
**CSSLR reporting only
Our past, present & future:
I. THE BEGINNING
| CSSLR was initially created and formally incorporated in 1989 in response to an announcement by the LA Department of Water and Power (DWP) that state and federal water quality standards would require the covering of all open water reservoirs in its system. The Coalition to Preserve Open-Water Reservoirs (CPOR) was formed by a citywide group of neighborhood residents and other community associations located adjacent to the DWP’s affected reservoirs. A lawsuit was filed on behalf of one of them that resulted in this citizen-involved process to guide and govern proposed changes to the reservoir properties going forward. CPOR representatives, including CSSLR, have participated in the planning and construction of those projects.
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II. THE SILVER LAKE RESERVOIRS MASTER PLAN
| In the mid-1990s, prior to a DWP water quality project in Silver Lake, CSSLR urged the DWP to fund and participate in creating a Master Plan for future uses of the reservoir property. CSSLR spent the next few years working closely with the DWP to interview and retain an appropriate consultant in landscape architecture, providing essential history and community input, and acting as a communication liaison between the DWP/consultant and the community. CSSLR publicized and helped administer three large community workshops, which were attended by approximately 500 community members. Several CSSLR board members spent hundreds of hours revising the final work product, which featured more than 200 pages of text and graphics. The Master Plan document was approved by the DWP Board of Commissioners in December 2000.
CSSLR met with every available government representative to seek guidance and funding to implement the property improvements in phases, the timing of which was based on the DWP’s operational needs for the property. Silver Lake’s California Assembly member was able to secure $2.3 million in funding from Proposition 40, and the two LA City Council members that Silver Lake shares were able to secure additional city funding. CSSLR continued to meet with representatives of all involved city departments throughout the design and construction process for the Phase 1 improvements. That project created safe pedestrian paths around approximately 2/3 of the reservoir property, allowing hundreds of daily walkers and joggers to enjoy the property without needing to be out on a dangerous high-traffic street to do so. The Phase 1 improvements were built in 2004-2005 and have proven to be extremely popular with the public – achieving much needed public safety protections in an aesthetically and environmentally acceptable fashion.
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III. SILVER LAKE’S WATER QUALITY PROJECTS
| California Environmental Quality Act requires that Water Quality Projects impacting the Silver Lake neighborhood complete environmental documents to safeguard the environment and communities potentially impacted by the projects. The DWP has completed three Environmental Impact Reports with CSSLR at the table to review draft chapters and assist the department in revisions.
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IV. CSSLR’s COMMUNITY OUTREACH WORK
| Throughout its history, CSSLR has functioned as a liaison between Silver Lake’s community members and the DWP/other city agencies on all issues concerning the appearance and operation of the reservoir property and the adjacent public streets. It has written, designed, printed and distributed a comprehensive community newsletter to an average of 15,000 community members once or twice each year. It has sponsored candidates’ forums attended by hundreds of community members. It has maintained this web site (www.csslr.org) for many years which houses a complete documentation of CSSLR activities and textual output, along with links to agencies and websites (where permitted by IRS restrictions on 501(c)3 nonprofit public benefit corporations) that assist in keeping the Silver Lake community informed of DWP and reservoir activities and projects. It has worked with the Silver Lake Neighborhood Council (SLNC) representatives and has made presentations at its public meetings. The SLNC has formally designated CSSLR as its official advisory body on reservoir issues. When a large communication utility sought to install cell phone towers on the reservoir property, CSSLR held meetings with its representative and the DWP and held a community meeting where residents completed surveys about their concerns and interests. As a result of that CSSLR-driven process, the cellular company abandoned its efforts.
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V. CSSLR’s INTERNAL OPERATIONS AND ACTIVITIES
| Throughout its history, CSSLR has drafted, revised and followed its by-laws that govern its decision making processes, financial affairs and election of directors and officers. It has carried liability insurance for its Directors and Officers. It has raised the money for its operational needs from sponsoring public tours of the reservoirs and Silver Lake’s architecturally significant houses and gardens.
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VI. CURRENT/FUTURE ACTIVITIES
| The primary focus of CSSLR’s current activities involves DWP projects on the property in response to water quality requirements. Between 2009 and 2015, DWP will no longer use the Silver Lake reservoirs as a water storage facility. This change will allow the surrounding communities greater access to the property. Currently, CSSLR is leading a coalition of neighborhood community groups along with the City Councilmember’s office and the L.A. Bureau of Engineering, Rec and Parks, and the Silver Lake Neighborhood Council in massaging a park design for the property out of the Silver Lake Master Plan, that is both sensitive to the wildlife habitats on the property and addresses neighborhood concerns regarding security, access, parking, and pedestrian safety. This process involves community workshops, research and educational efforts with wildlife groups, and planning meetings with the applicable city agencies.
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