California and Water · Episode 2 of 8 · 49 min
How Los Angeles Drained the Owens Valley — and Drowned Hetch Hetchy
Los Angeles reached two hundred miles into the Owens Valley and drained it; San Francisco drowned Hetch Hetchy inside Yosemite; and Gold Rush hydraulic miners buried the rivers until a judge said stop. The episode traces Mulholland's 1913 aqueduct ('There it is. Take it.'), the dynamitings and the dust that replaced Owens Lake, the Raker Act and John Muir's losing fight, and the 1884 Woodruff ruling.
Who's who
- William MulhollandEngineer and head of Los Angeles water who built the aqueduct
- Fred EatonFormer Los Angeles mayor who secretly bought Owens Valley water rights
- Joseph LippincottReclamation engineer who also consulted for Eaton
- Lorenzo SawyerFederal judge who issued the 1884 Woodruff decision
- John MuirNaturalist who lost the fight to save Hetch Hetchy
- Michael O'ShaughnessySan Francisco engineer who built the Hetch Hetchy dam
- John RakerCongressman who gave his name to the Hetch Hetchy act
- Woodrow Wilson+9 more episodesPresident who signed the Raker Act
Where it happens
- Owens Valley, CaliforniaFarming valley drained by the Los Angeles Aqueduct
- Hetch Hetchy Valley, Yosemite National Park, CaliforniaValley flooded by O'Shaughnessy Dam
- Owens Lake, CaliforniaWent essentially dry by 1926
- Alabama Gates, Owens ValleyDynamited by ranchers in 1924
Timeline
- January 7, 1884Judge Sawyer's Woodruff decision bars dumping hydraulic-mining debris.
- November 5, 1913Los Angeles Aqueduct opens at the Cascades spillway.
- December 19, 1913Wilson signs the Raker Act authorizing Hetch Hetchy.
- 1923O'Shaughnessy Dam completed and Hetch Hetchy flooding begins.
- May 21, 1924Owens Valley ranchers dynamite the Alabama Gates.
- 1926Owens Lake goes essentially dry.
Still debated
Whether Los Angeles's lawful purchases of Owens Valley water rights amount to theft, sharp dealing or ordinary civic ambition is debated, as is how coerced the sellers were. Mulholland's degree of culpability is also open.
← PreviousCalifornia's Water Paradox: Why the Rain Falls in the Wrong PlaceNext →The 1922 Deal That Split a River That Didn't Have Enough Water
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