A Century Later, Los Angeles Atones for Water Sins (NYT) link added

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/01/us/01water.html?ex=1168318800&en=5f7ee37829412b63&ei=5043&partner=EXCITE

INDEPENDENCE, Calif. — It may fall short of a feel-good sequel to “Chinatown,” the movie based on the notorious, somewhat shady water grab by Los Angeles that allowed the city to bloom from a semi-arid desert.

But in one of the largest river restoration efforts in the West, water is again flowing along a 62-mile stretch of the Owens River after a dry spell of nearly a century.

That part of the river had been left mostly drained when upstream water, fed by snowmelt from the towering Sierra Nevada, was channeled 233 miles south to fill swimming pools and bathtubs throughout Los Angeles.

The restored flow is among several long-awaited steps the city is taking to help make amends for the environmental consequences of its water maneuvering, most notably the drying up of Owens Lake, an area more than three times the size of Manhattan, here in the Owens Valley.


Mike Prather, an environmental advocate, walked a dry part of Owens Lake, which emptied when the Owens River was diverted to Los Angeles.

Los Angeles agreed in December to expand efforts to control toxic dust storms that erupt from what is left of the lake, a 110-square-mile body that emptied when the river was diverted to Los Angeles through an aqueduct opened in 1913.

FULL story at link.

[Pierre.Suave]

1. Call me crazy, but...

what link?

[H2O Man]

2. That's good.

I like the John & Yoko 45 sleeve, too.

[Solo_in_MD]

3. Not even close

Tjere have been claims that people have died from the alkiai dust the rape of the owens Valley let into the airstream...and DWP continues to fight even this modest reclamation.

There are times I have thought the LA should suffer the same fate at the Owens Valley...let it just dry out for 30 years and see how the people there like it.

[Pierre.Suave]

4. Ah, I see you added the link

thanks, I hope that project goes well. It would be nice if we culd go from destroying this earth to protecting it, and maybe even restoring where we have done damage.