Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
WATER FOR A THIRSTY GIANT: A TALE OF TWO LAKES
Los Angeles may be 250 miles away, but its history and fate are closely linked with that of
the Eastern Sierra. When LA's population surged around the turn of the 20th century, it
became clear that groundwater levels would soon be inadequate to meet the city's needs,
let alone sustain future growth. Water had to be imported, and Fred Eaton, a former LA
mayor, and William Mulholland, head of the LA Department of Water & Power (LADWP),
knew just how and where to get it: by aqueduct from the Owens Valley, which receives
enormous runoff from the Sierra Nevada.
The fact that the Owens Valley itself was settled by farmers who needed the water for
irrigation didn't bother either of the two men. Nor did it cause qualms in the least with the
federal government, which actively supported the city's less-than-ethical maneuvering in
acquiring land and securing water rights in the valley area. Voters gave Mulholland the
$24.5 million he needed to build the aqueduct and work began in 1908. An amazing feat
of engineering - crossing barren desert as well as rugged mountain terrain - the aque-
duct opened to great fanfare on November 5, 1913. The Owens Valley, though, would nev-
er be the same.
With most of its inflows diverted, Owens Lake, which had once been 30ft deep and an
important stopover for migrating waterfowl, quickly shriveled up. A bitter feud between
local farmers and ranchers and the city grew violent when some of the opponents tried to
sabotage the aqueduct by blowing up a section of it. All to no avail. By 1928 LA owned
90% of the water in Owens Valley and agriculture was effectively dead. These early water
wars formed the basis for the 1974 movie Chinatown.
But as LA kept burgeoning, its water needs also grew. In the 1930s, the LADWP bought
up water rights in the Mono Basin and extended the aqueduct by 105 miles, diverting four
of the five streams feeding into Mono Lake. Not surprisingly, the volume of water in the
lake dropped significantly, doubling the salinity and posing a major threat to its ecological
balance.
In 1976 environmentalist David Gaines began to study the concerns surrounding the
lake's depletion and found that, if left untouched, it would totally dry up within about 20
years. To avert this certain disaster, he formed the Mono Lake Committee in 1978 and en-
listed the help of the National Audubon Society. Years of lobbying and legal action fol-
lowed, but eventually the committee succeeded. In 1994 the California State Water Re-
sources Control Board mandated the LADWP to substantially reduce its diversions and
