Water to Flow Again in California River - AP

[Eugene]

Water to Flow Again in California River

By NOAKI SCHWARTZ
The Associated Press
Tuesday, December 5, 2006; 2:35 PM

LOS ANGELES -- In Los Angeles, William Mulholland is remembered as the visionary
who helped transform L.A. from a dusty desert town into a metropolis by building
a 240-mile aqueduct in 1913 that brought water from the Sierra Nevada to the city.

In the Sierra Nevada's Owens Valley, though, he is bitterly regarded as the villain
who stole farmers' water and drove them to ruin.

On Wednesday, after decades of legal battles, Los Angeles will make amends, in a
modest way, for what Mulholland and L.A. did.

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa will turn a valve and raise a steel gate to send water
spilling once more into a 62-mile stretch of the Owens River, which was a rushing
stream generations ago before the aqueduct diverted its flow and reduced it to a
pathetic trickle.

-snip-

Full article: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/05/AR2006120500838.html

Related: CA State Appeals Court - LA Must Restore 62 Miles Of Owens River

[pinto]

1. Good article that notes some of the high (low) points in the Water Wars;

and if the past *is* prologue, a clue of issues to come as the West inexorably grows out 'n out farther into the arid land.
Thanks for the post.

[kestrel91316]

2. One of my clients works for LA DWP and has been working up

in the Owens Valley for the past 6 months on this project. He says Owens Lake has a little water in it now, but they have set up vast acreages of sprinkler systems on the dry lake bed to keep the HORRIBLE dust pollution down.

Owens Lake used to be an actual LAKE.

Happy about the water back in the river finally!

[ourbluenation]

3. Have you read cadillac desert or the documentary? An entire chapter is on the owens valley

the attempt wrangle rivers in the west is both fascinating and frustrating - but none more so than the owens valley story. The movie Chinatown was loosely based on this too.