How Los Angeles got its water. The construction of the Los Angeles Aqueduct effectively eliminated the Owens Valley as a viable farming community and eventually devastated the Owens Lake ecosystem. A group known as the San Fernando Syndicate who among others included Eaton, Mulholland, Harrison Otis; the publisher of The Los Angeles Times, local developer Henry Huntington and a group of wealthy businessmen. The San Fernando Syndicate were a group of investors who bought land in the San Fernando Valley based on inside knowledge that the Los Angeles aqueduct would soon irrigate it. Fred Eaton, Mulholland and others connected with the project, have long been accused of using deceptive tactics and underhanded methods to obtain water rights and block the Bureau of Reclamation from building water infrastructure for the residents in Owens Valley.By the 1920s, the aggressive pursuits of the water rights and the diversion of the Owens River precipitated the outbreak of violence known as the California Water Wars. Farmers in Owens Valley attacked infrastructure, dynamiting the aqueduct numerous times and opening sluice gates to divert the flow of water.
Posted on: Wed, 06 Nov 2013 10:45:57 +0000
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