The Owens Valley Land Grab
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The Owens Valley,
in Inyo County, stretches about 100 miles, bounded by the Sierra
Nevadas and the Inyo Range; it is approximately 250 miles from
Los Angeles. Encapsulating the enormous variety of California,
at one end of the valley lies Mount Whitney, the highest peak
in the continental United States. At the other end is Death Valley,
the lowest point in the United States. The Owens River drains
the mountains of their melted snow, and at one time itself drained
into Owens Lake. The valley, river and lake were named in 1845
by John C. Fremont for Richard Owens, one of Fremont's guides.
The valley did not experience the extraordinary growth that the
Gold Rush brought to other parts of California. In 1865, a small
scale rush erupted when gold was discovered to the north of Owens
Lake. In 1872, a large earthquake (estimated now at over 8 on
the Richter scale) put the area in the papers. Aside from these
events, the valley was primarily home to small farms and ranches.
The Owens River, its flow unchecked, made the lowlands of the
valley swamps in flood season, but as there were no dams, or
money for irrigation projects, much of the valley didn't have
enough water. In 1902, with the passage of the National Reclamation
Act, hopes ran high in the valley that the government would help
the valley develop its water resources.
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Meanwhile down in
Los Angeles, by the early 1900's it was clear that new water
sources were needed to support continued growth. The Los Angeles
River, which had served as L.A.'s primary source of water for
its first century of existence, was proving unequal to the demands
being made on it. Water management in L.A. was originally in
the hands of a private company, the Los Angeles City Water Company.
After several years of wrangling and politcal maneuvering, in
1902 control of the city's water was turned over to a newly created
municipal organization, the Water Department, which was overseen
by a seven member Board of Water Commissioners. William Mulholland
became the first superintendent of the new department.
As Mulholland began looking for new water sources, Fred Eaton,
a former mayor of Los Angeles, and an engineer, brought the Owens
Valley to his attention. Eaton had first discovered the valley
in the 1890s, and had immediately recognized its potential as
a water source. But the federal Reclamation Service also had
its eye on the valley as a possible candidate for an irrigation
project. J.B. Lippincott, supervising engineer for the Reclamation
Service, was the man in charge of putting together recommendations
for the government, but amazingly he was also working as a consulting
engineer with Mulholland and the L.A. Water Department. Lippincott's
efforts for the Reclamation Service resulted only in the valley's
public lands being set aside for future development; no rights
to the land were secured. It was around this time that Eaton
quietly set about buying up options on strategic land in the
valley -- the land that would be needed for construction of an
aqueduct. To curious valley residents Eaton implied that he was
affiliated with the Reclamation Service, not the city of Los
Angeles, as was actually the case.
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Following a series
of bond issues the city acquired enough money to buy these options
from Eaton and to start construction on an aqueduct. Thus the
residents of Owens Valley, who had expected to be the beneficiaries
of a federal irrigation project, found themselves out of luck,
and water, as construction began on the great Los Angeles aqueduct. |
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The 250 mile long
aqueduct started at its northern end and ran right through the
valley, and the water that the valley residents had once thought
was going to irrigate their farmlands instead flowed down and
fed the growing population of L.A. |
The 1974 film Chinatown by Roman Polanski
was a highly fictionalized account of this struggle.
References:
Hoffman, Abraham.Vision or Villainy: Origins of the Owens
Valley-Los Angeles Water Controversy. College Station:
Texas A&M University Press, 1981.
Hundly, Norris. The Great Thirst: Californians and Water,
1770s-1990s. Berkeley: University of California Press,
1992.
Kahrl, William. Water and Power: The Conflict Over Los
Angeles's Water Supply in the Owens Valley. Berkeley:
University of California Press, 1982.
Walton, John. Western Times and Water Wars: State, Culture,
and Rebellion in California. Berkeley: University of California
Press, 1992.
Photo Credits:
First image: Owens River Valley, circa 1950, Regional History
Center collection.
Second image: Los Angeles in 1885, Sonora Town, north over Castelan
St from Fort Moore Hill (Elysian Hills in background), Regional
History Center collection.
Third image: Construction on the Los Angeles Aqueduct in the
Owens Valley, circa 1913., Regional History Center collection.
Fourth image: Drawing of aqueduct, showing section running from
Owens Valley to Haiwee Reservoir., Regional History Center collection.
All other images on this page used with permission of the USC
Regional History Center. |
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