Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/659479
I t is somewhat of an anomaly that a city as populous and star-studded as Los Angeles is perched on the edge of the stark Mojave Desert. Stoked by numerous cultural allusions mischaracterizing our city—including the lm Chinatown and non c- tion books such as Marc Reisner's Cadillac Desert: e American West and Its Disappearing Water, which was made into a four-part documentary— the myth persists that the City of Angels is, in fact, a desert metropolis. ere is a kernel of truth in that myth. With- out the controversial Los Angeles Aqueduct transporting water into our sea-level city from the 4,000' Owens Valley, L.A.'s growth would not have had the water it needed to reach its current size and population. From the reced- ing Owens River to the shrinking Salton Sea, the desert around us is a precious resource. Chris Langley and Osceola Refeto , authors of High & Dry: Dispatches from a Land of Little Rain, have been working for three years to document and raise awareness about the desert, its landscape and the importance of preserving it. Langley, a writer from the East Coast who fell in love with the Owens Valley, has written several books about it and works as the Inyo County Film Commissioner. It was through that job that he met Refeto , a location scout and ne art photog- rapher whose work o en records life in the desert. "When I got to the Ow- ens Valley, one of the rst things I learned about the area was that L.A. stole our water," Langley says, "but I've learned it was more complicated than that." Indeed, there were a number of suspect transactions related to the building of the Los Angeles Aqueduct. e Aqueduct was completed in 1913, water super- intendent William Mulholland's answer to supplying a growing city with water channeled from Sierra Nevada runo . Engineers estimated that the Owens River would provide more than enough water to meet L.A.'s water needs. But the decision was in direct con ict with farm- ers, ranchers and other Owens Valley residents who were planning a public irrigation project. e Aqueduct won out, in part due to questionable land purchases, strong- arm tactics by Mul- holland and support for the project from none other than Ted- dy Roosevelt. e result was both water and re. Water chan- neled from the Ow- ens River through canals, pipes and tunnels to a spillway in the San Fernan- do Valley supplied enough water for millions, but it ignited ery protests by Owens Valley residents and launched the subsequent "water wars" that divided Southern California. "While Los Angeles is technically not a desert, [histor- ically it has been] dependent on water that comes from other sources. Many people here have no idea where the water comes from when they turn on the tap, although the drought has brought more awareness," Refeto says. " e mentality of the people who built the Los Ange- les Aqueduct just doesn't exist today." Southern Califor- nia was forced to restore lower Owens River ow in 2005 (although we have continued to pump groundwater in the Owens Valley), and last year, for the rst time since the Aque- duct's inception, the water ow to L.A. was shut o from May until late Octo- ber, due to drought. Ironically, the drought has been a blessing in disguise in terms of water conservation in desert communities. " e drought has been an enormous help in making peo- ple more aware of the limitations of our water supply," Langley explains. e Department of Water and Power has nally been forced to address Owens Lake, which was depleted by the Aqueduct. ey've divided the lake CONTINUED ON PAGE 24 Photos: Osceola Refetoff, ospix.com april/may 2016 23