Tom Love, general manager of the Upper San Gabriel Valley Municipal Water District, briefed the Monrovia City Council on Dec. 2 about statewide water conditions and an invasive species threat that has affected imported water deliveries.

Love said Metropolitan Water District (MWD) is holding high levels of stored water after strong allocations in recent years, but the Golden Mussel — first detected in California in late 2024 and observed at Lake Silverwood in August — presents a new operational risk. He said LA County Public Works stopped deliveries to the San Gabriel River connection on Sept. 24 out of caution and to protect county facilities. "The golden mussel has not been detected here locally," Love said, "but because it's been detected moving through the State Water Project system, the county stopped deliveries until they are comfortable with control plans."

Love described control measures under development: containment, pre‑ and post‑delivery treatment (chlorine, UV, molluscicides), filtration pretreatment, monitoring and, if needed, removal. He explained limitations — microscopic veligers are difficult to filter at conveyance flow rates without large infrastructure — and noted that for Metropolitan, quagga mussel control has cost $7–$10 million annually on Colorado Aqueduct operations. For Monrovia, Love said the local groundwater basin had recovered from historic lows (citing the Baldwin Park Key Well), and the city could withstand a temporary delivery interruption for months to up to about two years in a dry scenario, though he urged quicker resolution to avoid long‑term shortages.

County acceptance of a Fish and Wildlife Service‑approved control plan would be a key step to resume deliveries, Love said, while staff from five local agencies and MWD are developing delivery‑point control plans. He characterized staff work as due diligence and said the district hopes to resume the connection after winter rains, potentially by April or May, if county concerns are resolved.

Provenance: topicintro SEG 239 — topfinish SEG 424

Speakers: Tom Love (Upper District General Manager; first reference SEG 241), Alex Tachiki (Public Works Director; SEG 236).