The Los Angeles Times recently reported that local residents are fighting to reclaim the sites as parkland or open space. While city officials want to cover the reservoirs with fabric, metal or concrete, which is causing quite a stir.

Some residents want the 15-acre Elysian Reservoir, which was built in 1903, converted into a playground and splash park, which officials call a costly engineering challenge, said the Times. While residents of Stone Canyon want to keep their reservoir open, or buried in tanks and landscaped with native shrubs and trees, which would keep heavy equipment working for years in the neighborhood.

The Coalition to Preserve Open Reservoirs, which was created in 1998 after the DWP announced plans to cap Elysian with an aluminum roof, hopes the conflict will be resolved by the end of the year.

Although the reservoirs may not seem spectacular to the naked eye, to some local residents, they are still worth fighting for.