OLANCHA, Calif. — Even as worsening drought and aridification force Los Angeles to end its overwhelming dependence on imported water, Angelenos may soon realize that weaning themselves off supplies from the rugged eastern Sierra Nevada doesn’t mean they will stop paying for the city’s long, complicated history there.
That’s because, even if the city is able to make good on a pledge by Mayor Eric Garcetti to recycle 100% of its water by 2035 and increase its ability to capture storm water, Los Angeles will still have to pay millions of dollars to control the region’s hazardous dust pollution — an environmental consequence of L.A.'s draining of Owens Lake more than a century ago, as well as recent diversions that have lowered the level of Mono Lake farther north.
Recently, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power accused Owens Valley air pollution authorities of “regulatory overreach” when they fined the utility $21 million for ignoring an order to control dust on a 5-acre patch of dry lake bed. The order and subsequent fine imposed by the Great Basin Unified Air Pollution Control District was an attempt to “squeeze” cash from the city’s water users, the DWP said.
