Heavy rain and flooding over the last year have caused roughly $100 million in damage to Los Angeles Department of Water and Power infrastructure and dust control systems in the Owens Valley, according to officials, and that figure is expected to climb as Southern California endures yet another atmospheric river this week.
Although heavy storms have dumped a bounty of rain and snow along the southern Sierra Nevada, enabling Los Angeles to draw millions of gallons of water for its residents, the precipitation has also taken a heavy toll on systems designed to prevent choking dust storms from developing on the dry bed of Owens Lake.
“We’re trying to build resilience into our Owens Valley operations,” said Adam Perez, manager of the Los Angeles Aqueduct. “But large amounts of stormwater in short order causes damage, and we do our best to address that.”
The storm damage includes a major breach of the aqueduct that occurred in March of last year, damage inflicted by Tropical Storm Hilary in August, and the submersion of dust sensors and dust control systems throughout the lake bed.
Although damage estimates are still being calculated, a preliminary assessment estimated the costs will be more than $100 million, DWP officials said. The agency has not yet determined how much of that expense will be passed along to its 4 million ratepayers — roughly half of whom live in disadvantaged communities.
Owens Lake evaporated into a brine pool encircled by vast salt flats after its inflows were diverted to Los Angeles in 1913. After the salt flats became a source of unhealthful dust pollution, the city was ordered to control the problem.
The brine pool, which normally contains 5,000 acre-feet of water, has grown to about 50,000 acre-feet due to emergency releases of water created by a series of unusually powerful storms that began early last year. This extra water has submerged and damaged extensive dust control measures.
“Releasing water into the brine pool is not something we do lightly, but our dams are full and creeks are still running high, so it’s something we have to do to comply with the California Division of Safety of Dams requirements,” Perez said.
A recent National Academy of Sciences study puts the region’s increasingly erratic weather patterns in context, with worrisome repercussions for the DWP: “Climate change is anticipated to adversely impact the Owens Valley water supply and therefore dust control efforts, with longer and more severe droughts and more extreme wet years.
“Because of climate-related changes,” it says, “the availability of water for dust mitigation will be more variable, more water will be needed during dry periods to mitigate dust and maintain habitat, and more pressure will be put on the system to support downstream water demands.”
The DWP has spent $2.5 billion to combat the swirling clouds of powder-fine dust kicked up by fearsome wind gusts on the dry lake bed. By introducing vegetation, gravel, tillage and shallow flooding, the department has reduced air pollution by 99% and brought a measure of peace in the rural valley where people have long had bitter feelings toward Los Angeles.
Acrimony has seethed in Owens Valley since the early 1900s, when the city had agents pose as farmers and ranchers to buy land and water rights in the valley, then began building an aqueduct to collect and divert water from Inyo County to the water-craving metropolis about 180 miles to the south.
L.A. diverted so much water via the aqueduct system that it was nearly impossible…
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