The Los Angeles District activated its Reservoir Operations Center Feb. 27 in response to observed rainfall and the rainfall forecast for Southern California. ROC staff will monitor rainfall, particularly at the 11 flood control dams the District manages in California. "We've installed 75 monitoring stations, so we have instrumentation that provides real-time data from the field," said Ned Araujo, chief, Reservoir Regulation Section. "We work closely with our partner agencies, including primarily Los Angeles County, Orange County, Orange County Water District, National Weather Service, and USGS to coordinate operations. During the past three years, we have captured nearly all of the rain water that flowed into the basins at Whittier Narrows and Prado dams for water conservation." The District owns and operates 16 reservoirs in Southern California, Arizona and Nevada, all with flood risk management as their primary purpose.