Water Wars: Story of a Lake that Dried Up

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DRYING UP PARADISE: THE OWENS LAKE STORY #geology #drought #waterwar #desert #lakemead #saltlakecity

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How Owens Lake Became Toxic

The lake became a dry lakebed, or salt flat … almost. Some water still sits in the lake region. Most, however is a mixture of clays with minerals like halite (salt), trona, & others. The chemical brine creates conditions for halophilic (“salt-loving”) archaea (**).
On particularly hot days, the lakebed’s hydrates can become, well dehydrated. Water is removed and the bed can turn to dust. The fine dust can then be mobilized into the air by winds. These dust storms can cause up to four million tons of noxious dust full of toxic archaea & fine carcinogenic metals like cadmium, nickel, & arsenic to be carried up the valley from the lake, causing respiratory ailments to local residents or visitors.
High winds are a common occurrence in the Owens Valley. The Japanese internment residents attested to the winds and dusts.
Another issue is climate change. As conditions get increasingly hot and dry in the southwest region of the US, the lake will have more frequent bouts of dryness that results in toxic dust storms.

As a result, LADWP is shallow flooding 27 square miles (69.9 km2) of the salt pan and using vegetation to reduce toxic alkali dust.

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Land Ownership: The land around Bishop, CA and the Owens Valley is mostly owned by LADWP & the California State, plus a 218 acre parcel owned by the California Department of Fish & Wildlife (CDFW) called the Cartago Wildlife Area (as of 2007)

The City of LA and LADWP own vast amounts of acreage and water throughout the Owens Valley region. You can observe the most obscure little drainages high in the mountains that you can follow down for many miles and see they eventually run down into the aqueduct.

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Terms: playa, lake, Owens Lake, desert geology, salt pan, salts, halite, trona, halophilic, soda, alkali, archaea

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Key Events:

Keeler, CA soda processing in early years (1800s to 1900s)
1913 - Los Angeles aqueduct (LADWP) completed, Owens Lake begins flowing to LA & lake levels drop
Soda processing is impacted & the Natural Soda Products Company sues The City of Los Angeles, a $15,000 settlement is made & the soda company builds a new plant, but a fire destroys the building shortly after
1920s - new plant built on the now dry lakebed
1920s - Owens Lake Dries Up
1920-30s - Major Dam Failure! More dams and diversions will be built over coming decades, including controversial Hetch Hetchy Dam
1937 - An unusually wet season prompts LADWP to divert water from the aqueduct to Lake Owens which floods the soda plant: the court orders LADWP to pay $154,000, which they appeal unsuccessfully.
LADWP builds the Long Valley Dam, primarily for flood control, creating Lake Crowley
June 24,2020 - magnitude 5.8 earthquake hits Lake Crowley area

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REFERENCES & FURTHER READING

USGS Owens Valley Hydrogeology
https://www.usgs.gov/centers/californ...

Short History of the Zanjas, LAs Early Water Projects:
https://la.curbed.com/2016/4/28/11490...


USGS Owens Lake History
https://geochange.er.usgs.gov/sw/impa...

Salts of Owens Lake region:
https://pubs.usgs.gov/bul/0580l/repor...

Rising Demand for Soda Ash Amidst Solar Boom:
https://www.yicaiglobal.com/news/chin...

Wyoming Soda Ash Plant
https://cowboystatedaily.com/2022/10/...

Cement Plant, Martin Marietta sales
1 https://www.tehachapinews.com/news/ne...

2 https://ir.martinmarietta.com/news-re...

Cerro Gordo, Today & Past:
https://www.sfgate.com/travel/editors...

Owens Lake Pollution Today
https://www.npr.org/2013/03/11/173463...


Owens Hydrology by USGS
https://ca.water.usgs.gov/owens/repor...