A recent agreement between the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) and Inyo County, California, calls for restoring flows along more than 60 mi (97 km) of the lower Owens River, setting the stage for one of the largest river restoration projects in the nation. A 62 mi (100 km) stretch of the river has lain dry since 1913, when the Los Angeles Aqueduct began diverting water from Owens Valley to the growing and increasingly thirsty metropolis. An engineering marvel, the gravity-driven system continues to deliver water to Los Angeles, conveying it approximately 280 mi (450 km) around the mountains of the Sierra Nevada. But controversy has swirled about the aqueduct ever since William Mulholland―the legendary engineer and superintendent of what would come to be known as the LADWP―set about securing water from the valley. Early on, the city faced allegations that it had used deceptive methods in acquiring land along the aqueduct's route, and angry Owens Valley residents sabotaged the structure several times after its completion. In recent decades the city and Inyo County have engaged in a protracted legal battle regarding the environmental damage resulting from the river's diversion.
展开▼
