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76-462: The aqueduct's construction was controversial from the start, as water diversions to Los Angeles eliminated the Owens Valley as a viable farming community. Clauses in the city's charter originally stated that the city could not sell or provide surplus water to any area outside the city, forcing adjacent communities to annex themselves into Los Angeles. The aqueduct's infrastructure also included

152-583: A conservation easement for all LADWP land. They did not meet this extended deadline. In 2008, Los Angeles fulfilled its promise and rewatered the lower Owens River. Pursuant to a 2014 agreement between the city and Great Basin Unified Air Pollution Control District (GBUAPCD, the Owens Valley air quality regulators), LADWP began using a new method of suppressing airborne dust from the dry bed of Owens Lake. In 2022,

228-521: A 118 mile long rail system from the Monolith mills to Olancha. The number of men who were on the payroll the first year was 2,629 and this number peaked at 6,060 in May 1909. In 1910, employment dropped to 1,150 due to financial reasons but rebounded later in the year. In 1911 and 1912, employment ranged from 2,800 to 3,800 workers. The number of laborers working on the aqueduct at its peak was 3,900. In 1913,

304-572: A dialect of the Mono language, which is also Numic but is more closely related to Northern Paiute . The Timbisha presently live in Death Valley at Furnace Creek although most families also have summer homes in the Lone Pine colony. The Eastern Mono live in several colonies from Lone Pine to Bishop . They lived along the rivers and creeks which were fed by snowmelt from the eastern slopes of

380-650: A large project as the Colorado River Aqueduct despite the fact that they had built the Los Angeles Aqueduct. After the collapse, the pace of annexation came to a rapid halt when eleven nearby cities including Burbank, Glendale, Pasadena, Beverly Hills, San Marino, Santa Monica, Anaheim, Colton, Santa Ana, and San Bernardino decided to form the Metropolitan Water District with Los Angeles. The city's growth following

456-543: A major Reclamation Bureau dam led to subsequent strengthening of its dam-safety program to avoid similar problems. Even so, the failure of Teton Dam, the environmental movement, and the announcement of President Carter 's "hit list" on water projects profoundly affected the direction of Reclamation's programs and activities. Reclamation operates about 180 projects in the 17 western states. The total Reclamation investment for completed project facilities in September 1992

532-485: A result of these acquisitions, the lake subsequently dried up completely, leaving the present alkali flat which plagues the southern valley with alkali dust storms. In 1970, LADWP completed a second aqueduct from Owens Valley. More surface water was diverted, and groundwater was pumped to feed the aqueduct. Owens Valley springs and seeps dried and disappeared, and groundwater-dependent vegetation began to die. Years of litigation followed. In 1997, Inyo County, Los Angeles,

608-615: Is about 4,000 feet (1,200 m), making the valley the deepest in the United States. The Sierra Nevada casts the valley in a rain shadow , which makes Owens Valley "the Land of Little Rain". The bed of Owens Lake , now a predominantly dry endorheic alkali flat , sits on the southern end of the valley. The current arid nature of the valley is mostly due to the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power diverting

684-777: Is an arid valley of the Owens River in eastern California in the United States. It is located to the east of the Sierra Nevada , west of the White Mountains and Inyo Mountains , and is split between the Great Basin Desert and the Mojave Desert . The mountain peaks on the West side (including Mount Whitney ) reach above 14,000 feet (4,300 m) in elevation, while the floor of the Owens Valley

760-535: Is disagreement over the actions of the " syndicate " as to whether they were a "diabolical" cabal or only a group that united the Los Angeles business community behind supporting the aqueduct, Eaton, Mulholland and others connected with the project have long been accused of using deceptive tactics and underhanded methods to obtain water rights and block the Bureau of Reclamation from building water infrastructure for

836-406: Is more prevalent. Streams are ephemeral and flow during and immediately after storms. Storm events can be of sufficient magnitude to move large quantities of sediment in streambeds Because of the arid conditions, this ecoregion has low carrying capacity for cattle . The southern part of the valley, except for the bed of Owens Lake , lies in the "Western Mojave Basins" ecoregion. The ecoregion

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912-548: Is rocky and lacks the fine sediments found at lower elevations of the Tonopah Basin. Great Basin species are common in this ecoregion. However, because the ecoregion is in the rain shadow of the Sierra Nevada , and is adjacent to the Mojave Desert , the aridity leads to black sagebrush being common and the more mesic understory species being largely absent. Other Mojave Desert species, such as blackbrush , Joshua tree , and cholla cactus are common where summer moisture

988-507: Is the dominant land cover, with minor areas of hay and pastureland . Vegetation includes big sagebrush , rabbitbrush , spiny hopsage , antelope bitterbrush , saltbush , ephedra , and several perennial grasses including desert needlegrass . Along the Owens River, some restoration of cottonwoods , willows , and wetlands has occurred. The eastern slopes of the valley lie in the "Tonopah Sagebrush Foothills" ecoregion. The soil

1064-671: Is to "manage, develop, and protect water and related resources in an environmentally and economically sound manner in the interest of the American public". In redirecting its programs and responsibilities, Reclamation substantially reduced its staff levels and budgets but remains a significant federal agency in the West. On October 1, 2017, the Hoover Dam Police Department was closed and the National Park Service took over law enforcement duties for

1140-463: Is typically dominated by creosotebush and white bursage , with areas of shadscale , fourwing saltbush , and on some upper bajadas and fans, scattered Joshua trees . This ecoregion has little summer rainfall compared to the basins in the eastern Mojave Desert, and typically lacks species such as Mojave yucca and big galleta . The lakebed of Owens Lake is considered to be a "Mojave Playa". The high salt and clay content of playa surface mud, and

1216-726: The Mono Basin and fund the Mono Basin extension. The 105 mi (169 km) extension diverted flows from Rush Creek , Lee Vining Creek , Walker Creek, and Parker Creek that would have flowed into Mono Lake . The construction of the Mono extension consisted of an intake at Lee Vining Creek, the Lee Vining conduit to the Grant Reservoir on Rush Creek, which would have a capacity of 48,000 acre⋅ft (59,000,000 m),

1292-474: The Owens Valley checkerbloom ( Sidalcea covillei ), is endemic to Owens Valley. Tule elk were introduced into the Owens Valley by the State of California in 1933. From the original 56 introduced elk, the herd grew to 300 individuals by 1952, which precipitated conflicts with ranchers due to destruction of property by the elk. Currently, the total elk population is managed to be approximately 490. The valley

1368-522: The United States Environmental Protection Agency : "Upper Owens Valley" and "Tonopah Sagebrush Foothills" (as part of the Great Basin Desert ), and "Western Mojave Basins" and "Mojave Playas" (as part of the Mojave Desert ). The floor of the valley, roughly north of the town of Independence, California , lies in the "Upper Owens Valley" ecoregion. The ecoregion also includes the distinct Alabama Hills in

1444-573: The "San Fernando Syndicate" – including Fred Eaton, Mulholland, Harrison Otis (the publisher of The Los Angeles Times ), Henry Huntington (an executive of the Pacific Electric Railway ), and other wealthy individuals – were a group of investors who bought land in the San Fernando Valley allegedly based on inside knowledge that the Los Angeles aqueduct would soon irrigate it and encourage development. Although there

1520-531: The 12.7 mi (20.4 km) Mono Craters Tunnel to the Owens River , and a second reservoir, later named Crowley Lake with a capacity of 183,465 acre⋅ft (226,301,000 m) in Long Valley at the head of the Owens River Gorge. Completed in 1940, diversions began in 1941. The Mono Extension has a design capacity of 400 cu ft/s (11,000 L/s) of flow to the aqueduct. However,

1596-492: The 1960s and earlier drew to an end. Reclamation wrote that "The arid West essentially has been reclaimed. The major rivers have been harnessed and facilities are in place or are being completed to meet the most pressing current water demands and those of the immediate future". Emphasis in Reclamation programs shifted from construction to operation and maintenance of existing facilities. Reclamation's redefined official mission

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1672-567: The 2014 agreement doesn't cover the dispute and the fines levied by GBUAPCD are unenforceable. The Owens Valley Radio Observatory located near Westgard Pass is one of ten dishes making up the Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA) . Bureau of Reclamation The Bureau of Reclamation , formerly the United States Reclamation Service , is a federal agency under the U.S. Department of

1748-572: The City of Los Angeles completed construction of the first Los Angeles Aqueduct. The aqueduct as originally constructed consisted of six storage reservoirs and 215 mi (346 km) of conduit. Beginning 3.5 mi (5.6 km) north of Blackrock ( Inyo County ), the aqueduct diverts the Owens River into an unlined canal to begin its 233 mi (375 km) journey south to the Lower San Fernando Reservoir. This reservoir

1824-598: The City of Los Angeles. Growth was so rapid that it appeared as if the city of Los Angeles would eventually assume the size of the entire county. William Mulholland continued adding capacity to the aqueduct, building the St. Francis Dam that would impound water creating the San Francisquito Reservoir, filed for additional water from the Colorado River, and began sending engineers and miners to clear

1900-898: The Department of the Interior. Frederick Haynes Newell was appointed the first director of the new bureau. Beginning with the third person to take over the direction of Reclamation in 1923, David W. Davis, the title was changed from Director to Commissioner. In the early years, many projects encountered problems: lands or soils included in projects were unsuitable for irrigation ; land speculation sometimes resulted in poor settlement patterns; proposed repayment schedules could not be met by irrigators who had high land-preparation and facilities-construction costs; settlers were inexperienced in irrigation farming; waterlogging of irrigable lands required expensive drainage projects; and projects were built in areas which could only grow low-value crops. In 1923

1976-698: The First Aqueduct which was built entirely by Public Works, the Second Los Angeles Aqueduct was primarily built on contract by various private construction firms including R.A. Wattson Co., Winston Bros., and the Griffith Co. The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power managed the project and performed some finishing construction on the Mojave conduit and Jawbone & Dove Spring pipelines. The 137-mile-long (220 km) aqueduct

2052-601: The GBUAPCD issued an order and subsequently fined the Los Angeles utility for ignoring an order to control dust on a 5-acre patch (2.0 ha) of dry lake bed. The LADWP responded with a lawsuit, accusing the air district of exceeding its authority and ordering dust control measures without first conducting an environmental analysis of its impacts, as required by the California Environmental Quality Act. A California Superior Court ruled that

2128-526: The Hoover Dam. The Hoover Dam Police Department existed for more than 80 years. Reclamation commissioners that have had a strong impact and molding of the Bureau have included Elwood Mead , Michael W. Straus , and Floyd Dominy , with the latter two being public-power boosters who ran the Bureau during its heyday. Mead guided the bureau during the development, planning, and construction of the Hoover Dam,

2204-524: The Interior , which oversees water resource management, specifically as it applies to the oversight and operation of the diversion, delivery, and storage projects that it has built throughout the western United States for irrigation , water supply , and attendant hydroelectric power generation . It is currently the U.S.'s largest wholesaler of water, bringing water to more than 31 million people, and providing one in five Western farmers with irrigation water for 10 million acres of farmland, which produce 60% of

2280-467: The Los Angeles Aqueduct has led to public debate, legislation, and court battles over its environmental impacts on Mono Lake and other ecosystems. The aqueduct project began in 1905 when the voters of Los Angeles approved a US$ 1.5 million bond for the 'purchase of lands and water and the inauguration of work on the aqueduct'. On June 12, 1907, a second bond was passed with a budget of US$ 24.5 million to fund construction. Construction began in 1908 and

2356-593: The Los Angeles Bureau of Water Works and Supply in 1929. The dam failure is the worst man-made flood disaster in the US in the 20th century and the second largest single-event loss of life in California history after the 1906 San Francisco earthquake . In an effort to find more water, the city of Los Angeles reached farther north. In 1930, Los Angeles voters passed a third US$ 38.8 million bond to buy land in

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2432-571: The Mono Basin to 10,000 acre⋅ft (12.3 million m) per year. In 1956, the State Department of Water Resources reported that Los Angeles was exporting only 320,000 acre-feet (390 million cubic metres) of water of the 590,000 acre⋅ft (730 million m) available in the Owens Valley and Mono Basin. Three years later, the State Water Rights Board warned Los Angeles that they could lose rights to

2508-703: The Owens Valley Committee, the Sierra Club, and other concerned parties signed a Memorandum of Understanding that specified terms by which the lower Owens River would be rewatered by June 2003. LADWP missed this deadline and was sued again. Under another settlement, this time including the State of California , Los Angeles promised to rewater the lower Owens River by September 2005. In July 2004, Los Angeles mayor James Hahn proposed barring all future development on its Owens Valley holdings by proposing

2584-591: The Owens Valley include Bishop , Lone Pine , Independence and Big Pine ; about 25,000 people live in the valley. The major road in the Owens Valley is U.S. Route 395 . About three million years ago, the Sierra Nevada Fault and the White Mountains Fault systems became active with repeated episodes of slip earthquakes gradually producing the impressive relief of the eastern Sierra Nevada and White Mountain escarpments that bound

2660-607: The Rocky Mountains. In 1845, John C. Fremont named the Owens valley, river, and lake for Richard Owens , one of his guides. Camp Independence was established on Oak Creek near modern Independence , on July 4, 1862, during the Owens Valley Indian War . From 1942 to 1945, during World War II , the first Japanese American Internment camp operated in the valley at Manzanar near Independence. In

2736-660: The Sierra Nevada. Trade between Native Americans of the Owens Valley and coastal tribes such as the Chumash has been indicated by the archaeological record. On May 1, 1834, Joseph R. Walker entered Owens Valley from the south, having crossed the Sierra Nevada at Walker Pass . Walker and his group of 52 men traveled up the valley on their way back to the Humboldt Sink , and back up the Humboldt River to

2812-762: The South Haiwee Reservoir. The flow then continues 115 miles (185 km) south through a series of pressure pipelines and concrete conduits where it connects with the First Aqueduct at the North Portal of the Elizabeth Tunnel near the Fairmont Reservoir. The San Francisquito Tunnels (which include the Elizabeth Tunnel) have a flow capacity of 1,000 cu ft/s (28,000 L/s) and are large enough to handle

2888-594: The State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) in 1974 increased exports to 167,000 acre⋅ft (206 million m) per year. These export levels severely impacted the region's fish habitat, lake level, and air quality, which led to a series of lawsuits. The results of the litigation culminated with a SWRCB decision to restore fishery protection (stream) flows to specified minimums, and raise Mono Lake to 6,391 feet (1,948 m) above sea level. The agreement limited further exports from

2964-990: The Terminal structure and Cascades. Water from the Terminal structure can then flow to either the Cascade or penstock to the Foothill Power Plant and into the Upper Van Norman Reservoir. In addition to the construction in the Northern and Southern sections, improvements were also made to the lined canal between the Alabama Gates and the North Haiwee Reservoir in the Northern Section that consisted of adding 24 in (610 mm) sidewalls to both sides of

3040-635: The United States Bureau of Reclamation. She was confirmed by the United States Senate on November 16, 2017. Burman is the first woman to ever lead the Bureau of Reclamation. David Murillo was serving as the acting commissioner of the bureau. Burman resigned on January 20 after the inauguration of the Biden Administration . The current Commissioner is Camille Calimlim Touton , the first Filipino American to head

3116-546: The United States' first multiple-purpose dam. John W. Keys , the 16th Commissioner of the Bureau of Reclamation who served from July 2001 to April 2006, was killed two years after his retirement on May 30, 2008, when the airplane he was piloting crashed in Canyonlands National Park , Utah . On June 26, 2017, President Donald Trump nominated Brenda Burman to serve as the Commissioner of

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3192-551: The Upper Van Norman Reservoir. The Second Aqueduct was not built as a single contiguous conduit. For design and construction purposes the aqueduct was divided into Northern and Southern sections and the two are connected by the San Francisquito Tunnels, which are part of the First Aqueduct. The Northern Section carries water starting at the North Haiwee Reservoir through the Haiwee Bypass passing around

3268-557: The agency was renamed the "Bureau of Reclamation". In 1924, however, in the face of increasing settler unrest and financial woes, the "Fact Finder's Report" spotlighted major problematic issues; the Fact Finders Act in late 1924 sought to resolve some of these problems. In 1928 Congress authorized the Boulder Canyon ( Hoover Dam ) Project, and large appropriations began, for the first time, to flow to Reclamation from

3344-456: The aqueduct numerous times, and opened sluice gates to divert the flow of water back into Owens Lake . The lake has never been refilled, and is now maintained with a minimum level of surface water to prevent the introduction of dangerous, toxic lake-floor dust into the local community. In 1917, The Bureau of Los Angeles Aqueduct sought to build a holding reservoir to regulate flow and provide hydroelectric power and storage in case of disruption to

3420-404: The aqueduct system. The initial site chosen was in Long Valley along the Owens River, but Eaton, who had bought up much of the valley in anticipation of the need for a reservoir, refused to sell the land at the price offered by Los Angeles. Mulholland then made the decision to move the reservoir to San Francisquito Canyon above what is now Santa Clarita, California . The resulting St. Francis Dam

3496-408: The canal and the raising of overcrossings. This work increased the capacity of the lined canal from 710 cu ft/s (20,000 L/s) to 900 cu ft/s (25,000 L/s) cfs. The increased flows provided by the second aqueduct lasted only from 1971 through 1988. In 1974 the environmental consequences of the higher exports were first being recognized in the Mono Basin and Owens Valley. This

3572-598: The city of Los Angeles if the St. Francis Dam had not collapsed. The catastrophic failure of the St. Francis Dam in 1928 killed an estimated 431 people, flooded parts of Santa Clarita, and devastated much of the Santa Clara River Valley in Ventura County . The failure of the dam raised the question in a number of people's minds whether the city had engineering competence and capability to manage such

3648-445: The completion of the St. Francis Dam in 1926 to provide storage in case of disruption to the system. The dam's collapse two years later killed at least 431 people, halted the rapid pace of annexation, and eventually led to the formation of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California to build and operate the Colorado River Aqueduct to bring water from the Colorado River to Los Angeles County . The continued operation of

3724-517: The early 20th century, the valley became the scene of a struggle between local residents and the city of Los Angeles over water rights. William Mulholland , superintendent of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP), planned the 223-mile (359 km) Los Angeles Aqueduct , completed in 1913, which diverted water from the Owens River. The water rights were acquired deceitfully, often splitting water cooperatives and pitting neighbors against one another. In 1924, local farmers were fed up with

3800-463: The far south. The primary landforms of this ecoregion are gently to moderately sloping alluvial fans and mostly level basin floors, terraces, and floodplains. Elevations range from about 3,800 feet (1,200 m) along the Owens River in the south to more than 6,000 feet (1,800 m) where the higher fans descend from adjacent mountains. Alluvium from the Quaternary period covers the region, with some small areas of lava flows. Shrub-covered rangeland

3876-480: The flow of both aqueducts. Once the combined flow reaches the penstocks above Power Plant #2, water is diverted into the Southern Section of the second aqueduct through the Drinkwater Tunnel to the Drinkwater Reservoir. The last segment of pipe, known as the Saugus Pipeline, carries water south past Bouquet Canyon , Soledad Canyon and Placerita Canyon in the city of Santa Clarita . From there it roughly parallels Sierra Highway before it enters Magazine Canyon near

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3952-457: The flow was limited to 123 cu ft/s (3,500 L/s) due to the limited downstream capacity of the Los Angeles Aqueduct. Full appropriation of the water could not be met until the second aqueduct was completed in 1970. From 1940 to 1970, water exports through the Mono Extension averaged 57,067 acre-feet (70 million cubic meters ) per year and peaked at 135,000 acre⋅ft (167 million m) in 1974. Export licenses granted by

4028-442: The formation of the MWD would be limited to 27.65 square miles. The Cascades, which was completed on November 5, 1913, is located near the intersection of Foothill Boulevard and Balboa Boulevard, four miles northwest of San Fernando. It was designated as a California Historical Landmark on July 28, 1958. Notes Further reading Owens Valley Owens Valley ( Mono : Payahǖǖnadǖ , meaning "place of flowing water")

4104-407: The general funds of the United States. The authorization came only after a hard-fought debate about the pros and cons of public power versus private power. The heyday of Reclamation construction of water facilities occurred during the Depression and the 35 years after World War II . From 1941 to 1947, Civilian Public Service labor was used to carry on projects otherwise interrupted by

4180-426: The graben and that a very steep escarpment is buried under the western length of the valley. The topmost part of this escarpment is exposed at Alabama Hills . The Owens Valley has many mini-volcanoes, such as Crater Mountain in the Big Pine volcanic field . Smaller versions of the Devils Postpile , can be found, for example, by Little Lake . The valley is split between four different ecoregions , as defined by

4256-643: The heading at the San Jacinto Tunnel that he knew was key to the construction of the Colorado River Aqueduct . The aqueduct's water provided developers with the resources to quickly develop the San Fernando Valley and Los Angeles through World War II. Mulholland's role in the vision and completion of the aqueduct and the growth of Los Angeles into a large metropolis is recognized with the William Mulholland Memorial Fountain, built in 1940 at Riverside Drive and Los Feliz Boulevard in Los Feliz. Mulholland Drive and Mulholland Dam are both named after him. Many more cities and unincorporated areas would likely have annexed into

4332-490: The hot, dry conditions inhibit plant growth. This ecoregion is largely barren and only sparse saltbush vegetation typically is found on the margins. Playas are dynamic environments with surface channels, playa margins, alluvial materials , and biota changing with each flooding event. Physical and biological crusts on soil surfaces are important, stabilizing soil and reducing erosion from wind and water. The valley contains plants adapted to alkali flat habitat. One of these,

4408-445: The last ice age . An excellent example of a moraine is on State Route 168 as it climbs into Buttermilk Country . This graben was formed by a long series of earthquakes, such as the 1872 Lone Pine earthquake , that have moved the graben down and helped move the Sierra Nevada up. The graben is much larger than the depth of the valley suggests; gravity studies suggest that 10,000 feet (3,048 m) of sedimentary rock mostly fills

4484-495: The nation's vegetables and 25% of its fruits and nuts. The Bureau is also the second largest producer of hydroelectric power in the western U.S. On June 17, 1902, in accordance with the Reclamation Act , Secretary of the Interior Ethan Allen Hitchcock established the U.S. Reclamation Service within the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). The new Reclamation Service studied potential water development projects in each western state with federal lands. Revenue from sale of federal lands

4560-477: The northern Owens Valley- Mono Basin region. Owens Valley is a graben —a down-dropped block of land between two vertical faults—the westernmost in the Basin and Range Province . It is also part of a trough which extends from Oregon to Death Valley called the Walker Lane . The western flank of much of the valley has large moraines coming off the Sierra Nevada. These unsorted piles of rock, boulders, and dust were pushed to where they are by glaciers during

4636-438: The purchases and erupted in violence, sabotaging parts of the water system. Eventually, Los Angeles acquired a large portion of the water rights to over 300,000 acres (121,000 ha) of land in the valley, almost completely diverting the water inflows away from Owens Lake. Gary Libecap of the University of California, Santa Barbara, observed that the price Los Angeles was willing to pay to other water sources per volume of water

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4712-410: The residents in Owens Valley, and creating a false sense of urgency around the completion of the aqueduct for Los Angeles residents. By the 1920s, the aggressive pursuit of water rights and the diversion of the Owens River precipitated the outbreak of violence known as the California water wars . Farmers in Owens Valley, following a series of unmet deadlines from LADWP, attacked infrastructure, dynamiting

4788-451: The war effort. The last major authorization for construction projects occurred in the late 1960s, while a parallel evolution and development of the American environmental movement began to result in strong opposition to water development projects. Even the 1976 failure of Teton Dam as it filled for the first time did not diminish Reclamation's strong international reputation in water development circles. However, this first and only failure of

4864-425: The water of the region. The valley provides water to the Los Angeles Aqueduct , the source of one-third of the water for city, and was the area at the center of one of the fiercest and longest-running episodes of the California Water Wars . Owens Lake was completely emptied by 1926, only 13 years after Los Angeles began diverting water. The water diversions inspired aspects of the 1974 film Chinatown . Towns in

4940-422: The water they were permitted for but not appropriating. Faced with the possible loss of future water supply, Los Angeles began the five-year construction of the aqueduct in 1965 at a cost US$ 89 million. Once the city received diversion permits, water exports jumped in 1970, adding 110,000 AF that year into the aqueduct system. By 1974, exports climbed to 450,000 acre⋅ft (560 million m) per year. Unlike

5016-585: Was about $ 11 billion. Reclamation projects provide agricultural, household, and industrial water to about one‑third of the population of the American West. About 5% of the land area of the West is irrigated, and Reclamation provides water to about one-fifth of that area, some 9,120,000 acres (37,000 km ) in 1992. Reclamation is a major American generator of electricity . As of 2007 , Reclamation had 58 power plants on‑line and generated 125,000 GJ of electricity. From 1988 to 1994, Reclamation underwent major reorganization as construction on projects authorized in

5092-403: Was completed in 1926 and created a reservoir capacity of 38,000 acre-feet (47,000,000 m). On March 12, 1928, the dam catastrophically failed, sending a 100-foot high (30 m) wall of water down the canyon, ultimately reaching the Pacific Ocean near Ventura and Oxnard, and killing at least 431 people. The resulting investigation and trial led to the retirement of William Mulholland as the head of

5168-411: Was designed to flow 290 cu ft/s (8,200 L/s) and begins at the Merritt Diversion Structure at the junction of the North and South Haiwee Reservoirs, south of Owens Lake , and runs roughly parallel to the first aqueduct. Water flows entirely by gravity from an elevation of 3,760 feet (1,150 m) at the Haiwee Reservoir through two power drops to an elevation of 1,200 ft (370 m) at

5244-406: Was divided into eleven divisions. The city acquired three limestone quarries, two Tufa quarries and it constructed and operated a cement plant in Monolith, California , which could produce 1,200 barrels of Portland cement per day. Regrinding mills were also built and operated by the city at the tufa quarries. To move 14 million ton-miles of freight, the city contracted with Southern Pacific to build

5320-425: Was due largely to the aqueduct, and the city's charter which stated that the City of Los Angeles could not sell or provide surplus water to any area outside the city. Outlying areas relied on wells and creeks for water and, as they dried up, the people in those areas realized that if they were going to be able to continue irrigating their farms and provide themselves domestic water, they would have to annex themselves to

5396-451: Was far higher than what the farmers received. Farmers who resisted the pressure from Los Angeles until 1930 received the highest price for their land; most farmers sold their land from 1905 to 1925, and received less than Los Angeles was willing to pay. The sale of their land brought the farmers substantially more income than if they had kept the land for farming and ranching. None of the sales were made under threat of eminent domain . As

5472-499: Was followed by a series of court ordered restrictions imposed on water exports, which resulted in Los Angeles losing water. In 2005, the Los Angeles Urban Water Management Report reported that 40–50% of the aqueduct's historical supply is now devoted to ecological resources in Mono and Inyo counties. From 1909 to 1928, the city of Los Angeles grew from 61 square miles to 440 square miles. This

5548-548: Was inhabited in late prehistoric times by the Timbisha (also called Panamint or Koso) in the extreme south end around Owens Lake and by the Mono tribe (also called Owens Valley Paiute ) in the central and northern portions of the valley. The Timbisha speak the Timbisha language , classified in the Numic branch of Uto-Aztecan language family . The closest related languages are Shoshoni and Comanche . The Eastern Mono speak

5624-551: Was later expanded with the construction of the Mono Extension and the Second Los Angeles Aqueduct. The aqueduct uses gravity alone to move the water and also uses the water to generate electricity, which makes it cost-efficient to operate. The construction of the Los Angeles Aqueduct effectively eliminated the Owens Valley as a viable farming community and eventually devastated the Owens Lake ecosystem. A group labeled

5700-622: Was later renamed the Lower Van Norman Reservoir . The original project consisted of 24 mi (39 km) of open unlined canal, 37 mi (60 km) of lined open canal, 97 mi (156 km) of covered concrete conduit, 43 mi (69 km) of concrete tunnels, 12.00 mi (19.31 km) steel siphons, 120 mi (190 km) of railroad track, two hydroelectric plants, three cement plants, 170 mi (270 km) of power lines, 240 mi (390 km) of telephone line, 500 mi (800 km) of roads and

5776-733: Was the initial source of the program's funding. Because Texas had no federal lands, it did not become a Reclamation state until 1906, when Congress passed a law including it in the provisions of the Reclamation Act. From 1902 to 1907, Reclamation began about 30 projects in Western states. Then, in 1907, the Secretary of the Interior separated the Reclamation Service from the USGS and created an independent bureau within

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