Orange groundwater flowing down Encino's Ballina Canyon streets has stained homes, caused accidents, and sparked safety fears. A permanent fix could cost $5 million to $15 million, but residents say the city has no funding timeline.
** residents are watching a stream of orange-colored groundwater flow down their streets for nearly a mile. The runoff has stained cars and homes. It has created slick conditions that caused motorcycle falls and at least one rollover accident. Now neighbors are demanding action before someone is seriously injured.
The orange water emerges in Ballina Canyon, an affluent part of Encino where homes average about $3 million. Residents call the phenomenon the "Ballina Canyon River." It is not a picturesque water feature. It is groundwater seeping up through the soil and flowing over curbs and into streets.
"There's this groundwater that's seeping up and turning the street this horrible shade of orange," Roy Nwaisser, president of the Encino Neighborhood Council, told The California Post. "It's turning their homes orange. It's turning their cars orange. And it's also a safety hazard because it's very slick and it's caused quite a few accidents."
Andrea Pearlman, an Encino resident who helped form a committee to address the issue, said the problem has plagued the neighborhood for five years. She walked reporters through the affected stretch and described repeated accidents.
"We've been told it's magnesium in the water," Pearlman said. "And sometimes there's even foam that builds up. There's been a couple motorcycles or cyclists who have fallen, and most recently there was a lady who actually fell back and hit her head. So ... we want this to be taken care of before someone is seriously injured."
David Cefali, a biologist and structural engineer who lives in the area, said the orange color comes from iron in the groundwater. He explained that an aerobic process causes the iron to precipitate out of solution. That creates the red-orange stain and the foam that residents sometimes see.
"It's a natural phenomenon," Cefali said. "It's a product of how much of the iron goes into solution in the groundwater. And then that organic procedure ... this aerobic process where it precipitates out the iron. And that's when you see the red. And then you see one of the byproducts, which is the foam."
Experts say the water is not hazardous to human health. Residents worry it could hurt property values in one of Encino's most expensive neighborhoods.
The Los Angeles Bureau of Engineering has estimated that a permanent fix could cost between $5 million and $15 million. Residents say they have repeatedly been told there is no funding available for the project.
Cefali suggested that smaller repairs could improve safety without the full price tag. He said fixing a dozen curb locations where drainage was constructed incorrectly could significantly reduce accidents.
"There are certain locations where the curbs were constructed slightly incorrectly," Cefali said. "If the city were able to come through and just fix a dozen locations, which I think they could for a modest amount, they could really remediate the safety issues here."
A long-term solution would involve installing a storm drain higher up Ballina Canyon Road and redirecting existing drainage systems into it. That would carry the water underneath the roadway rather than letting it flow over the street.
The neighborhood falls within the district of Councilmember Nithya Raman. Residents have been meeting with her office for several years. Nwaisser said progress has been slow and lacks a clear timeline.
"They're giving us very incremental updates," Nwaisser said. "There's not really a timeline for getting it fixed, so it feels like a little bit of lip service. They are giving us the attention but not giving us the action."
Pearlman said residents just want their neighborhood to be safe and clean. She warned that homes along Ballina Canyon could become harder to sell if the problem persists.
"These poor people who live right here on Ballina Canyon, when and if they want to sell their homes one day, that's going to be really hard to do," Pearlman said. "We just want our neighborhood to be nice and clean and safe."
Residents continue to meet with city officials each month. No deadline has been set for a permanent solution.
This article was generated with AI assistance.