The Eastsider says “Soccer and birthday parties take over Silver Lake Meadow:”

http://www.theeastsiderla.com/2013/05/soccer-and-birthday-parties-take-over-silver-lake-meadow/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheEastsiderLa+%28The+Eastsider+LA%29

What do YOU think?

The Silver Lake Reservoirs Conservancy has worked hard over the years to help provide the facilities we enjoy around the Reservoir — and to build a safe environment. The incredible popularity of our Path and the Silver Lake Meadow show how much our community enjoys these features.

And we’re working to improve the safety of the Path. There’s an urgent need for better lighting along the Path adjacent to the Meadow, along with other safety features.  Let’s hope that the community attention from these recent incidents helps make our city agencies aware of the need for improved safety — before any more unfortunate incidents occur.

Your City Council offices need to know how important it is that we make essential safety improvements. Soon we’ll have  a new mayor and Councilmember in District 13. If you live in CD 13, let the candidates know you want the City to make the Path safe.

The original news about the mugging on the walking path on the West Silverlake Drive side from the Patch:

http://echopark.patch.com/articles/silver-lake-reservoir-suddenly-not-so-safe?ncid=newsltuspatc00000001

A word to the wise from the LAPD, reported in the Eastsider:

http://www.theeastsiderla.com/2013/05/lapd-warns-silver-lake-reservoir-joggers-to-watch-our-for-robbers/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheEastsiderLa+%28The+Eastsider+LA%29

Finally, some words of caution from SLRC president Craig Collins:

http://echopark.patch.com/blog_posts/alert-muggings-on-the-silver-lake-path

Updated 05-13, another story in the Patch:

http://echopark.patch.com/articles/lapd-releases-details-about-first-robbery-by-silver-lake-reservoir?ncid=newsltuspatc00000001

LA County Fire Dept. helicopter fills up at Silver Lake Reservoir for another water drop on a fast-moving fire in Glendale Friday, May 3, 2013. News reports stated that the massive air attack allowed quick containment of that blaze.  Photo by Maryann Kuk.

This last week’s major wildfires were a reminder of Silver Lake Reservoir’s importance as a critical water source for wildland fire fighting and other emergency use. The large Ventura County fire was followed by a much-nearer flareup, in Glendale near the 134 and 2 freeway interchange. 

Thanks to nearby Silver Lake, helicopters filled their tanks from the Reservoir and helped bring that blaze under swift control. It’s another important benefit to the public that our Reservoirs provide, and this case, it may have made a critical difference in preventing a much larger fire. 

It’s one of the ways our Reservoirs are part of the public trust, providing multiple benefits to everyone — from the water we take for granted, to the pleasures we enjoy as we live or just walk around the Reservoir, to improved public safety. Most of us remember the devastating fire in Griffith Park in 2007 (Silver Lake provided a source for water to protect homes in that major blaze), and fire officials are concerned about a similar situation in this year’s very dry conditions.

Soon the LA DWP will begin a major pipeline project through the Reservoir. If the Reservoir is drained dry for the multi-year project, what will be the impact of that loss on the emergency water supply? 

Photo Credit:  Anthea Raymond, Echo Park-Silver Lake Patch, May 3, 2013