Aqueduct Legacies | Aqueduct Futures Barry Lehrman Assistant - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

▶
aqueduct legacies aqueduct futures
SMART_READER_LITE
LIVE PREVIEW

Aqueduct Legacies | Aqueduct Futures Barry Lehrman Assistant - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Jan 19, 2023 38 likes •228 views

Los Angeles Neighborhood Initiative 2014 Aqueduct Legacies | Aqueduct Futures Barry Lehrman Assistant Professor of Landscape Architecture Cal Poly Pomona 100 years of change since Mulholland said There it is - take it! A century of

slide-1
SLIDE 1

Los Angeles Neighborhood Initiative 2014

Aqueduct Legacies | Aqueduct Futures

Barry Lehrman

Assistant Professor of Landscape Architecture Cal Poly Pomona

slide-2
SLIDE 2

2

100 years of change since Mulholland said ‘There it is - take it!’

  • A century of imported water enabled Los Angeles to emerge as a

global city

  • US and California environmental regulations now limit inter-basin

water transfers and protect ecological water needs

  • 50% of water in the Los Angeles Aqueduct System is

now used in the Owens Valley for dust mitigation and enhanced mitigation projects

  • Conservation and development of local water supply is

reducing the demand for imported water Still

  • The City of Los Angeles faces signifjcant political and

legal liabilities related to the continued operations of the Los Angeles Aqueduct

slide-3
SLIDE 3

3

slide-4
SLIDE 4

4

slide-5
SLIDE 5

5

slide-6
SLIDE 6

6

Min - Max total in CA % of CA Wind 0 - 1.06 Gal/MWH 13 GWH 6.3% Solar PV 0 - 3.96 Gal/MWH 1 GWH 0.90% Concentrated Solar Power 766 - 1004 Gal/MWH 675 GWH NGCC 129 - 502 Gal/MWH 13,100 GWH 43% IGCC (Coal) 173 - 1,830 Gal/MWH 22,700 GWH 7.5% Conventional Coal 520 - 1,041 Gal/MWH Nuclear 581 - 898 Gal/MWH 27,300 GWH 9.0% Geothermal 1400 - 1,796 Gal/MWH 13,400 GWH 4.4% Biomass 7,100 GWH 2.3% Hydro n/a 43,600 GWH 9.8%

The Water-Energy Nexus

  • It takes lots of energy to supply water
  • It takes lots of water to supply energy

Source: www.westernresourceadvocates.org/water/images/ energyintensity.gif

slide-7
SLIDE 7

7

slide-8
SLIDE 8

8

2005 LORP 2001 Owens Lake Dust Project 1970 2nd LA Aqueduct 1923 Owens Valley pumping 1941 Mono Crater Tunnel

slide-9
SLIDE 9

9

slide-10
SLIDE 10

10

slide-11
SLIDE 11

11

Benefjts for the Owens Valley

Legacy of LADWP ownership:

  • Preserved open space (not habitat)
  • Mitigated dust from Owens Lake

Alternate histories:

  • Owens Valley would be like Fresno and the

rest of the Central Valley - a sprawl of industrial agriculture and housing subdivisions

  • or -
  • Owens Valley National Park (we can dream)

Source: Robert A. Sauder, Patenting an Arid Frontier: Use and Abuse of the Public Land Laws in Owens Valley, California. Annals of the Association of American Geographers, Vol. 79, No. 4 (Dec., 1989), pp.544-569. http://www.jstor.org/stable/2563647

slide-12
SLIDE 12

12

Impacts to Owens Valley

  • Limited jobs available beyond tourism, working

for the LADWP or Sparkletts

  • LADWP manages their real estate holdings to

limit water use, not to maximize rents or their return on investment leading to blight

  • The Owens Valley is a food desert with little

locally grown food available to the community

  • Loss of wetlands and groundwater dependent

vegetation across the Valley

  • Severe wind-caused soil erosion and dust that

causes public health issues

slide-13
SLIDE 13

13

slide-14
SLIDE 14

14

Water Exports Land-Use Policy

Status Quo H20

LADWP continues existing water & property practices = $ BILLIONS OF LIABILITY & POLITICAL COSTS Establishing a conservation easement

  • or-

Transfer non-essential LADWP land to another agency = REDUCED ENVIRONMENTAL LIABILITIES Increased mitigation, without property management reforms = CONTINUED POLITICAL COSTS Ecological restoration & economic growth =

PEACE

Status Quo Divestment Reduced H2O Exports Aqueduct Futures Scenarios: Owens Valley

slide-15
SLIDE 15

15

W h i t n e y M
  • u
n t f i s h h a t c h e r y B l a c k r
  • c
k f i s h h a t c h e r y er r e v i R t u a b i h T k e e r C s e m m y S d r e h p e h S e n
  • L
e l t t u T r C z a i D l l
  • r
r a C d
  • w
n
  • t
t
  • C
n i k b u L N e n i P r C k c a b g
  • H
r C s r i a B h t r
  • N
r C s r i a B h t u
  • S
l l i m w a S n
  • i
s i v i D k e e r C k e e r C k e e r C k e e r C k e e r C r C r C e g r
  • e
G k e e r C k e e r C k e e r C k e e r C k e e r C e c n e d n e p e d n I k e e r C k a O h t u
  • S
k a O h t r
  • N
e l a d
  • G
r C M O N O C R A T E R T U N N E L Big Pine Bishop Independence Lone Pine 40 KILOMETERS 10 20 30 40 MILES 10 20 30 MONO COUNTY INYO COUNTY TULARE COUNTY Lake Crowley Grant Lake Mono Lake Haiwee Reservoir Tinemaha Reservoir Benton Valley A l a b a m a H i l l s MONO BASIN Poverty Hills CRATER MOUNTAIN Tungsten Hills Round Valley L
  • n
g V a l l e y Volcanic Tableland Benton Range Chalfant Valley Hammil Valley S I E R R A N E V A D A M O U N T A I N S SIERRA NEVADA MOUNTAINS INYO MOUNTAINS W H I T E M O U N T A I N S Coso Range MOUNT WHITNEY + 14,497' Inventoried Roadless Areas where road construction or reconstruction is allowed Inventoried Roadless Areas where road construction or reconstruction is NOT allowed Inventoried Roadless Areas where road construction or reconstruction is NOT allowed and the forest plan recommends as Wilderness Designated Areas outside of Inventoried Roadless Areas Roadless Area Conservation

Big Picture: Opportunities for the Owens Valley

Overhauling LADWP property management policies:

  • Increase property values and rents for Los Angeles
  • Enables local economic determination

Reforming LADWP’s open space policies or transferring management to another agency could:

  • Enhance the management of natural resources
  • Develop cultural and recreation resources for tourism

If 100% of Owens River water can remain in the Valley:

  • Refjlling Owens Lake (~20 years)
  • Raises the water table to regenerates alkali meadows and other

signifjcant plant communities (5-50 years)

slide-16
SLIDE 16

16

Big Picture: Multi-Functional Infrastructure

Doing more with less:

  • Beyond ‘green infrastructure’ for storm water to

‘living aqueducts‘

  • Cultural uses
  • Ecological uses
  • Economic uses beyond the temporary:

nurseries, storage/parking

slide-17
SLIDE 17

17

Big Picture: Towards Resilience and Adaptation

Global population growth and global warming:

  • Water is going to become more expensive and scarce
  • Shifts of water use from ag to cities, Shift to low H20 energy

sources

  • Increase development of local water for urban supply with

recycled H20 & increased capture of rainwater - decreases need for imported water and large-scale storage

  • Regulation of groundwater is necessary, as is overhauling

California’s water rights system

  • Regulations must address the Water-Energy Nexus
slide-18
SLIDE 18

18

Next Steps towards Peace

  • ‘Los Angeles Aqueduct Master Plan’ (and

‘Colorado River Aqueduct Master Plan’) that focuses on multi-functional uses for the land and region

  • Legislation authorizing a National Park Service

Special Resources Study of the Owens Valley

  • Publication of all LADWP water and property

data on data.lacity.org, and assist Inyo County’s Assessor mapping the LADWP’s real estate holdings

  • Policies to cut water use in LA by 50%
  • Regulations to ensure safe and low energy

recycling of water by limiting contaminants in consumer goods that are hard to remove

slide-19
SLIDE 19

Thank You! blehrman@csupomona.edu www.aqueductfutures.com