Huge Water Main Break Floods UCLA

Swamped in the middle of a drought: A massive water main break under Sunset Boulevard flooded parts of the UCLA campus yesterday, causing serious damage to buildings, including the school's famous Pauley Pavilion basketball arena. Millions of gallons of water flooded athletic facilities after the 93-year-old pipe broke, sending a 30-foot geyser of water into the air, reports the AP. A $136 million renovation of Pauley Pavilion was completed less than two years ago. "It's painful. It's painful," UCLA Chancellor Gene Block told reporters. "We just refurbished Pauley a few years ago. And it's a beautiful structure. It's, of course, a symbolic structure for this entire campus."

Five people had to be rescued from flooded underground parking garages, where many cars were trapped by the water, though some students tried to make the most of the flood and turned up with boogie boards, reports the Los Angeles Times. It took more than three hours to shut off the pipe, and officials believe up to 10 million gallons of water were lost. "Unfortunately, we lost a lot of water, around 35,000 gallons a minute, which is not ideal in the worst drought in the city's history, so we ask everybody to try harder to conserve water," a city councilman says. People who waste water in California can now be fined up to $500 per day. (More UCLA stories.)