Los Angeles Aqueduct | |
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![]() The Second Los Angeles Aqueduct Cascades, Sylmar | |
Coordinates | 36°58′32″N 118°12′37″W / 36.9756°N 118.2103°W |
Begins | First Aqueduct Owens River, Inyo County 36°58′32″N 118°12′38″W / 36.975678°N 118.210541°W Second Aqueduct Haiwee Reservoir, Inyo County 36°10′57″N 117°57′30″W / 36.182600°N 117.958470°W Mono Extension Upper Lee Vining Creek, Mono County 37°56′10″N 119°08′04″W / 37.936151°N 119.134426°W |
Ends | First & Second Aqueduct Upper Van Norman Lake (Los Angeles Reservoir), Granada Hills, Los Angeles 34°18′46″N 118°29′35″W / 34.312860°N 118.492988°W Mono Extension Owens River, Mono County 37°45′25″N 118°53′27″W / 37.756910°N 118.890911°W |
Official name | Los Angeles Aqueduct Second Los Angeles Aqueduct Mono Extension |
Maintained by | Los Angeles Department of Water and Power |
Characteristics | |
Total length | 419 mi (674 km) |
Diameter | 12 ft (3.7 m) |
First section length | 233 mi (375 km) |
Second section length | 137 mi (220 km) |
Capacity | First Aqueduct 422 cu ft/s (11.9 m3/s) Second Aqueduct 290 cu ft/s (8.2 m3/s) |
History | |
Construction start | First Aqueduct October 1908 Second Aqueduct September 1965 |
Opened | First Aqueduct November 1913 Second Aqueduct June 1970 |
Location | |
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References | |
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The Los Angeles Aqueduct system, comprising the Los Angeles Aqueduct (Owens Valley aqueduct) and the Second Los Angeles Aqueduct, is a water conveyance system, built and operated by the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power.[6] The Owens Valley aqueduct was designed and built by the city's water department, at the time named The Bureau of Los Angeles Aqueduct, under the supervision of the department's Chief Engineer William Mulholland.[7] The system delivers water from the Owens River in the eastern Sierra Nevada mountains to Los Angeles.
The aqueduct's construction was controversial from the start, as water diversions to Los Angeles eliminated the Owens Valley as a viable farming community.[8] Clauses in the city's charter originally stated that the city could not sell or provide surplus water to any area outside the city, forcing adjacent communities to annex themselves into Los Angeles.[9]
The aqueduct's infrastructure also included the completion of the St. Francis Dam in 1926 to provide storage in case of disruption to the system.[10] The dam's collapse two years later killed at least 431 people, halted the rapid pace of annexation, and eventually led to the formation of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California to build and operate the Colorado River Aqueduct to bring water from the Colorado River to Los Angeles County.[9][11]
The continued operation of the Los Angeles Aqueduct has led to public debate, legislation, and court battles over its environmental impacts on Mono Lake and other ecosystems.[12]
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