Mayor Bass announces lift of "Do Not Drink" notice in Palisades Fire area starting tomorrow

Almost two months after the Palisades Fire erupted in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood and drinking water became unsafe, Mayor Karen Bass announced the "Do Not Drink" notice will be lifted on Friday.

Bass shared the information at a news conference accompanied by Los Angeles Department of Water and Power CEO and Chief Engineer Janisse Quiñones at the city's new Unified Utilities Rebuild Operations Center.

Bass said the recovery efforts in the Pacific Palisades area are months ahead of expectations. She emphasized the city's commitment to expediting the rebuilding process and helping families return to their homes. 

"I'm committed to rebuilding this community at lightning speed," Bass said. 

"Do Not Drink" notice lifted

Quiñones said the LADWP issued the "Do Not Drink" notice on Jan. 10, a few days after the Palisades Fire broke out. She added that crews have been working 7-days a week to flush and test water pipes in the affected areas to meet all required safety levels. 

Quiñones said residents should run all water faucets at the highest setting for about 10 minutes before using any of the water. This step only needs to be done once and the water should be safe to use after. All toilets should be flushed at least once and repeated if refilled water is not clear. 

Residents should run empty dishwashers and washing machines once on the rinse cycle. Any left over ice from an ice maker should be discarded. Old water filters should be replaced. 

LADWP released a dashboard to track the water quality restoration process.

Recovery efforts since the start of the fires

Last week, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced Phase 1 of the household hazardous waste removal was completed in 28 days. 

The EPA removed more than 300 tons of hazardous materials, including exploded lithium batteries, from properties. Bass compared the completion of this phase to the Camp Fire from 2018, which took 18 months to clear. 

Phase 2 of the fire debris removal handled by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has been underway for several weeks. 

Bass as well as the city council have signed new ordinances protecting residents and business owners. The ordinances provide tax relief for local businesses that were impacted, prohibit tenant evictions for residents displaced and prohibit price gouging for essential housing. 

Quiñones also told reporters power has been restored to nearly all standing structures and businesses in the Pacific Palisades area. There are about 143 customers remaining without power. Quiñones said those properties are in difficult to reach areas but crews continue to work on helping them. 

Bass and Quiñones said since day one of the restoration process, officials decided to rebuild power systems fully underground. 

"We have about 4,000 feet of underground work already designed and ready for construction," Quiñones said. 

For the time being, crews are setting up temporary above ground power lines, Quiñones said. Construction for underground lines could take years to complete.