HUNTINGTON BEACH

The city is planning for a day when it’s no longer dependent on imported water to fight blazes. To better prepare for the worst, Holly-Seacliff developers PLC Land Co. began constructing a 9-million-gallon reservoir last month on Edwards Hill, city engineer Doug Stack said. The $5.6-million project, covering two acres, should be done by 2001, he said. The city plans to add another 9-million-gallon reservoir in the near future.

The new water sources will ease the city’s reliance on the Metropolitan Water District in emergencies, a dependence that has proved risky in the past when supply lines were disrupted, city engineer Tom Rulla said. Since 1988, the city’s goal has been to store enough water to quell two large blazes at the same time, Rulla said. But major growth, particularly in the Holly-Seacliff area, threatens to stretch thin the local supply, fire operations chief Chuck Reynolds said. “We potentially don’t have enough water to fight two major fires,” he said.