Two or three times a week, you can find me jogging through Pan Pacific Park in my central Los Angeles neighborhood. It’s your typical urban park: a handful of soccer fields and baseball diamonds; picnic areas; paths for jogging and strolling. On a typical weekend, you’ll find games in full swing, kids riding bikes, birthday parties, dog walkers and couples strolling. And like most parks, Pan Pacific has conveniently placed water fountains — four, in fact. Unfortunately, none of them work. And it gets hot there. Even in winter, the temperature can hit 80 degrees. With all that heat and physical activity, proper hydration is critical. But without working fountains, visitors are forced to go without water or to bring their own.

As I’ve written before, the decline of public water fountains has been a topic of greater debate in our society. Increasingly, government has been ceding its traditional role in favor of private solutions like bottled water. While it’s reasonable to debate whether a city should provide fountains in all public spaces, I believe at the very least, they should provide fountains in our parks and keep them in good working order. To do anything less in a hot climate could be considered a public health hazard.

So, after months of frustration, I decided to write the parks department asking them to fix the fountains in Pan Pacific Park and to clarify their position on this issue. You can view my letter here and I’ll post an update when I receive a response.

Meanwhile, please tell me your thoughts on this issue. Does your local park have working fountains? If not, have you attempted to contact the authorities?