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THE VIEW FROM HERE - The universe has given the City of Los Angeles a wonderful opportunity with the massive 36-inch water main break at Holloway and Sunset Boulevard in the city of West Hollywood. I can envision Robin Williams urging us to embrace “carpe diem” (seize the day). Will we?
A society has few opportunities for its leaders to seize upon an unexpected event to respond in the best possible way. All populations have a number of archetypes, i.e. rivers of thought patterns, operating in our collective unconscious minds. Although we are unaware of their existence, they organize our conscious thoughts and feelings. (Jungian Archetypes apply for all people. The term, "cultural archetypes," refers to something similar but for a civilization or a cultural – unconscious modes of thoughts which serve to organize experiences and shape our actions.
Action vs Study
As discussed previously, the best in western thinking is built on the archetype that to meet life, one needs to have both objective study and proper action based on study. Not only did the rabbis extensively promote this unconscious assumption, but much of western civilization is based on it. It underlies the scientific revolution, the age of exploration where men traveled the unknown seas to gain real knowledge of the world to replace myths.
Martin Luther King
MLK’s ‘I have a Dream’ speech reflects a cultural archetype when he said to judge each person by his character and not by his race. MLK rooted himself in the Declaration of Independence's archetype that each person has certain individual inalienable rights.
These two deep unconscious patterns provide us the path to deal with significant societal problems like the massive rupture of a 36-inch pipeline. We need to study the origins of this huge water fiasco on the basis of its own history as a part of not only the DWP’s role, but also the role of Los Angeles governance since the early 1900's. Now is not the time to go off halfcocked, shooting off false attacks at people we dislike so that personal politics based ignorant falsehoods destroy Los Angeles’ ability to study, learn and take wise action.
“It Was All Garcetti’s Fault” - Study Shows Is False
Karen Bass inherited the DWP from Eric Garcetti, whose perverse influence started with his 2001 election to be District 13 councilmember. He turned the city council into a criminal enterprise with the One and Done Rule which Penal Code § 86 criminalized. The WeHo DWP disaster is the ideal opportunity to again trace our woes to Garcetti. Not so fast there! The two archetypes of (1) study vs action and (2) to treat individual people and events according to their true nature derailed my eagerness to blame Garcetti’s perfidy. In this instance, Garcetti did the right thing and so too has Karen Bass. Now is Angelenos’ turn to use objective Study and Action in order handle this issue on its own merits.
DWP is Not As Horrible As We Thought
LA DWP ranks in the top 25% for system interruption frequency and duration. Although the DWP has 2 to 4 water main breaks per day, it is still in the top 25% in providing good uninterrupted service. Who knew? Not I.
Mayoral Nithya Raman Has Chosen to Take the Low Road
First, Angelenos need to understand why water mains constantly burst. The entire DWP water system including sections under parts of West Hollywood are under constant pressure. We use a gravity system where water is pumped up to reservoirs at higher altitude and then gravity pulls down all that water creating huge pressure inside the pipelines. During hours when Angelenos are using water, we are bleeding off the pressure by opening millions of faucets. Counter-intuitively, pressure on the pipes is lowest, when our usage is highest.
When we go to sleep and most faucets are often, the pressure builds up. DWP’s need to pump more water up to the reservoirs to prepare for the next day’s usage. Unless the water is replenished and the pressure raised, then LA would have little or no water pressure for our morning showers. Thus, the system’s pressure is highest a few hours after midnight when the reservoirs have been refilled so that pipes burst around 2:00 am, 4:00 am. That is why we constantly wake up to water flooding down the streets, but seldom when the city is awake and using water as if there were no tomorrow. (Deeper Study will show us more factors.)
None of this can be news to the disingenuous Raman; she graduated Harvard and has a master’s degrees in city planning (MCP) from MIT! Are we to believe she does not know how water systems function?
Raman has placed blame squarely on past and present city leadership's failure to invest properly in long-term infrastructure! This is a liar, liar, pants on fire moment. Garcetti did not ignore the problem, and in fact. he undertook proactive reforms and he got them funded.
Because Garcetti’s pro-active 2016–2017 LADWP Water Infrastructure Plan mandated a reduction in grid pressure, DWP accelerated the modernization of the old update plans. He realized the solution was not a matter of only replacing 7,341 miles of pipes. The entire system had ancient manually operating old valves which try to regulate daytime night time pressure variance. Garcetti’s 2019 LA 100 would use modern automated, variable-frequency drive (VFD) pumps instead of pre-War II technology. To this end, starting in 2016, DWP launched its Water Infrastructure Plan (WIP) to modernize the old gravity only technologies. Upgrading to mainline valves, constructing massive underground trunk lines, and rebuilding neighborhood pressure zones would take decades and billions of dollars. Rome was not built in a day.
Raman’s accusation of municipal neglect and waiting for water mains to burst are blatantly false and she knows it!
The advent of ai has made the situation a technological nightmare and a godsend. Garcetti’s 2016 -2017 pro-active plan suddenly became semi-obsolete. Just as the city could not use pre-WWII methods in 2016, we cannot use 2016 methods in 2026! The entire water system can be fitted with ai' using ubiquitous pressure feed-back data so that 24/7/365 water pressure can be steady. Should LA continue with the Garcetti Plan? How do we integrate the 2016 Plan technology with the new ai technology? Even ai has no magic wand to fix everything instantaneously. Rome was not built in a day.
Mayor Bass has similarly failed to explain the dynamics and has adopted the old saw, “We’re doing the best we can.”
Both have steered clear of the solid Study vs Action archetype. Both have engaged in governance malfeasance because the public would favorably, albeit skeptically, respond to the truth and why cooperative study based on facts is the proper way to protect future generations.
Technology Advanced Too Fast
No one should scapegoat the DWP, Garcetti or even Bass. When Garcetti actually addressed the issue, his plan was up to date. No one should be so foolish to think that any rehab plan can be instituted and finished over-night. No one could foresee that ai would upend everything requiring a overall of the 2016-2017 plan now. In 2016 there were only analog solutions but the digital age with its unforeseen ai made those old static plans woefully out of date. Sticking with Garcetti’s state of the art 2016 plans is like insisting on only hard-wired phone lines and not allowing broadband WiFi.
Obviously, up-dates are necessary, but technology was not and is not standing still. What is up to date in 2026 could be "obsolete" in 2027. Let’s be honest, if Karen Bass completely tears up Garcetti’s 2016 plan to install 2026’s best smart-valves and predictive ai algorithms, isn't she just building the next obsolete system? In 2026 dollars, the cost of the new system is about $30 billion dollars. If the city adopted a ten-year plan, that would be $3 billion per year. LA does not have the revenue.
We have a choice. Should we stick with polarizing myths, lies, and scapegoating or should we rely on our cultural archetypes of (1) study vs action and (2) treat each situation according to facts. One route leads to death; the other leads to life. Let’s Choose Life!
(Richard Lee Abrams is a former Los Angeles-based attorney, an author, and political commentator. A long-time contributor to CityWatchLA, he is known for his incisive critiques of City Hall and judicial corruption, as well as his analysis of political and constitutional issues. Abrams blends legal insight with historical and philosophical depth to challenge conventional narratives. A passionate defender of civic integrity and transparency, he aims to expose misuse of power and advocate for systemic reform in local government. You may email him at RickLeeAbrams@Gmail.com)
