California Braces for Floods After Historic Winter Storms

After a historic winter snow season, California’s Owens Valley is bracing for widespread flooding as the snowpack melt is expected to bring roughly 130 billion gallons of water via the Los Angeles Aqueduct alone.

According to an article by Louis Sahagún in the Los Angeles Times, “L.A.’s water lifeline to the Owens Valley has never before faced such a long-term flood threat. The vulnerability of the century-old system was brought into sharp focus on March 10, when storm flooding destroyed a 120-foot section of the aqueduct near Olancha.”

The unexpected breach—the first in the aqueduct’s history—highlighted the vulnerability of the Los Angeles water system, threatening supplies to 4 million LADWP ratepayers. Sahagún describes the strained relationship of the Los Angeles Aqueduct and the Owens Valley, where, in the early 20th century, the growing city illicitly bought land to build the aqueduct that would eventually lead to the demise of Owens Lake and have far-reaching impacts on the state’s ecology.

“Under a court order, the DWP has spent more than $2.5 billion over the last three decades transforming the lake’s grim heritage with dust control projects including shallow flooding that have reduced salty, alkaline toxic dust emissions by nearly 100%.” The lake bed now also draws tens of thousands of migratory birds that feed on local brine flies.