Part of the work behind the flaggers, steel plates and lane shifts on Agoura Road between Lindero Canyon Road and Lakeview Canyon Road was scheduled to start next fiscal year. They're here now because a 24-inch steel drinking-water main broke at the Agoura and Lindero Canyon intersection on May 5, 2026. The regional Pure Water Project then put its own pipe into that same trench so the city would only be torn up once. Most of the new project pipe going under Westlake Village will carry leftover water away from the region, not deliver drinking water to it.
The Break That Moved the Calendar
This wasn't the intersection's first failure. A staff report in the August 10, 2026 Las Virgenes-Triunfo Joint Powers Authority board packet lists water main breaks there in July 2023 and August 2023. Because of those breaks and the "deteriorated condition of the pipeline's coating," Las Virgenes Municipal Water District had already planned to relocate the main during the current budget cycle.
The May 5 break caused what the report calls "major disruption of traffic and damages to the roadway at one of the busiest intersections in the City of Westlake Village." The leak was fixed right away. Staff then decided the planned replacement couldn't wait any longer.
That's where the timing changed for everyone who drives Agoura Road. The JPA had been getting ready to install a reverse osmosis concentrate pipeline and extend a recycled-water line through the same intersection, with work set to begin "starting next fiscal year." Staff sped up design and construction of those pieces so both jobs would happen in one dig. On July 7, 2026, the LVMWD board approved a larger contract limit with Toro Enterprises, Inc., the district's on-call pipeline repair contractor, to do all of it. Staff estimated the work at about $3,500,000. The JPA pays for the Pure Water pieces and LVMWD pays for moving its two drinking-water mains.
Here's how the months since then played out:
- May 5, 2026: The 24-inch steel main breaks at Agoura Road and Lindero Canyon Road.
- July 7: The LVMWD board expands the Toro Enterprises contract.
- July 22: The project team presents an updated alignment and construction plan to the City of Westlake Village.
- September 11: Utility potholing along the corridor is finished.
- September 30: The updated timeline and phasing go to the Westlake Village City Council.
- October 5: Asphalt removal and steel plates begin. Pipeline installation is planned to follow on October 7.
- Week of October 12: Crews keep installing pipe near Knightsgate Road and work their way west.
Four Pipes, and the Longest One Passes Through Here
The Pure Water Project takes recycled water from the Tapia Water Reclamation Facility and purifies it at a new Advanced Water Purification Facility at 30800 Agoura Road in Agoura Hills. The treatment uses membrane filtration, reverse osmosis, and ultraviolet disinfection with advanced oxidation. Reverse osmosis leaves behind a salty concentrate, and that concentrate has to go somewhere.
The project's 2023 Conceptual Design Report lays out four separate pipelines, about 18 miles in all:
| Pipeline | What it carries | Where it goes | Planned length |
|---|---|---|---|
| Source water line | Recycled water | From the existing recycled system to the purification facility | 0.8 mile |
| Purified water line | Purified water | To Las Virgenes Reservoir for blending | 2.7 miles |
| ROC line | Reverse osmosis concentrate | To the Calleguas Salinity Management Pipeline for ocean discharge | 13.7 miles |
| Residuals line | Treatment residuals | To the sanitary sewer | 1.1 miles |
These are 2023 planning numbers, and the design has kept changing. LVMWD's own construction page now describes "fourteen miles of new pipeline" connecting to the facility. The basic proportions still hold, though. The concentrate line is by far the longest pipe in the system, and it's the one the JPA's monthly updates connect to traffic control "through the City" of Westlake Village. The line carrying purified water toward Las Virgenes Reservoir runs less than three miles.
The concentrate line also keeps going well past Westlake Village. Construction on it is already happening on Hillcrest Road in Thousand Oaks. According to the October update, the board has approved upsizing it to 14 inches past Amgen. The JPA is also working with Calleguas Municipal Water District, the City of Thousand Oaks, and private parties on a larger line that could take future connections from industrial users in Thousand Oaks.
Why a Brine Line Runs Under Agoura Road
Malibu Creek is the reason this whole project exists. In 2013, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency adopted a new Total Maximum Daily Load for Malibu Creek, which set stricter limits on discharges into it. The JPA then had to figure out how to send less treated water from the Tapia facility into the creek while also building up a local water supply.
The project's answer is to purify surplus recycled water and reuse it. That leaves the salt concentrate, and under the design it goes to the Calleguas Salinity Management Pipeline. That pipeline runs under a federal NPDES permit, and anything discharged into it has to meet that permit's requirements. The Calleguas pipeline sits west of the purification plant, toward Ventura County, so the concentrate line has to cross Westlake Village to reach it.
The Westbound Lane That Stayed Open
If you read LVMWD's earlier construction page, you may be expecting a different traffic setup than the one out there now. That page described both westbound lanes of Agoura Road closed to most traffic, a detour along Lakeview Canyon Road, Townsgate Road and Village Glen, eastbound lanes open, a bike lane kept open throughout, and completion in February 2027.
That plan changed over the summer. The JPA's monthly updates to its board say the project team met with the City of Westlake Village and local business representatives about traffic control. They then agreed with the city to keep a single lane of traffic open throughout construction, "avoiding the need to have a full closure of westbound lanes for 6 weeks." The October update says that agreement was finished in July and that all traffic control and permitting with Westlake Village is complete. The Caltrans permit for the waterline relocation at the intersection was still pending when that update came out.
So the daily experience is a moving work zone instead of one long detour. The latest weekly notice lists temporary lane closures, traffic shifts, turn restrictions, parking restrictions and flaggers "as construction moves through each phase." The project map for that week shows the work near Westlake Golf Course.
What the Next Few Months Look Like
Posted work hours are Monday through Friday, about 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. The same notice and the Valley News Group report on the start of work both say there will also be nighttime construction, so people living and working near the corridor may see crews in the evening and overnight.
The work is expected to last about four to six months. Counting from the October 5 start, that puts the end somewhere between early February and early April 2027. The February 2027 date on the older LVMWD page lands at the early end of that range. The weekly notice says "construction is a dynamic process" and that weather and field conditions can change the schedule.
Crews will keep access to nearby homes and businesses open "whenever possible." According to LVMWD, the project team offers businesses that may be affected help with wayfinding signs, parking, pedestrian access and marketing. Detailed updates come out weekly on the Westlake Village construction page, and the outreach team takes calls at (818) 245-4440. The city also posted an alert on October 14 pointing residents to its Pure Water updates page.
The Drinking Water Arrives in 2030
When it's finished, purified water will go to Las Virgenes Reservoir, mix with Metropolitan Water District supply, and get final treatment at the Westlake Filtration Plant before it reaches customers. The project's construction FAQ says construction runs through fall 2028, pipeline and facility testing continues through winter 2029/2030, and operations should begin in spring 2030.
Initial production is projected at about 2,100 acre-feet a year. Once fully running, the project is expected to supply up to 30% of the region's drinking water. The total budget is $466 million, with about $303 million of it for design and construction. The project is funded by state and federal grants and low-interest loans.
Valley News Group quoted Oliver Slosser, Engineering Program Manager at Las Virgenes Municipal Water District, explaining why the Agoura Road segment matters so much to that schedule:
"This pipeline work along Agoura Road is essential to connecting the pieces of the Pure Water Project and keeping it on track to deliver a new, local source of drinking water to our communities."
For anyone stuck in the single westbound lane this winter, the timing comes down to one decision. After the main broke in May, the water agencies, working with the city, chose to dig up Lindero Canyon and Agoura Road once instead of twice.
If you live along the Agoura Road corridor and are thinking about selling while this work is going on, Denise Marks Group can walk you through how construction timing could affect when you list and how buyers get to your showings. Request your free home valuation, and we'll look at your home with this season's road work in mind.
