Wednesday, December 06, 2006

Owens River Flows Again!

Apparently, Angelenos are unaware that there has been ongoing restoration in the Owens Valley to mitigate the effects of Los Angeles obtaining the water rights and then bringing that water to Southern California 100 years ago. Disputes have been raging for years as to the level of responsibility the City has to that region, of which it owns the majority (but not all) of the land and water rights.

Today, the Mayor was up in the Owens Valley to "release" some of the water back into the Owens River, diverting it from the gravity fed aqueduct system that brings it to Los Angeles. Many say that today the water started to flow, but as this picture shows, six months ago the water was flowing. Yes folks, this is a a photo of the Owens River after some diversion had already started to take place. Today was a photo op and a media event - and sadly, there was no memorable quote like "There it is. take it."

(This is also a good time to remind people that Roman Polanski's 1974 film Chinatown was not related to Mulholland directly, and the facts are nothing like the real ones surrounding building the aqueduct.)

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