Residents in the Venice Canal area were taken by surprise on Saturday morning when a burst pipe created a large geyser, leading to significant flooding in the neighborhood.
The leak was reported shortly before 8 a.m., with water cascading over nearby homes. Neighbors shared with the California Post that they witnessed crews from the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) working in the flooded streets to address the issue.
“I awoke to the sound of water spraying,” said Laurie Tomlinson, a local resident.
Tomlinson described seeing water pouring out over her apartment as she ran outside with her dog’s leash.
“There were already four or five DWP workers there, knee-deep in water, attempting to fix things,” she recounted.
LADWP later clarified that the leak was on private property, not due to a city water main break. However, residents noted that the flooding affected the streets and temporarily disrupted water service to nearby buildings.
Tomlinson mentioned that the water quickly spread, covering an entire block of the road.
“The road was completely underwater,” she added.
To facilitate the repairs, the landlord had to turn off the water supply to the building.
Interestingly, this incident comes just days after a much larger water main break in West Hollywood, where a century-old pipeline under Sunset Boulevard burst, releasing millions of gallons of water.
While Venice’s canals can flood during heavy storms, Tomlinson said she had never seen anything like this in her six years of living there.
“It was a hot and sunny day, so seeing the street completely flooded was really unusual,” she remarked.
This situation has sparked renewed concern regarding the aging water infrastructure in Los Angeles. LADWP oversees approximately 12,400 miles of water mains, many of which are quite old. On average, they deal with three to four water main breaks each day and replace about 45 miles of outdated pipelines annually, but a complete overhaul of the system will take many years.
