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Lower Owens River: DWP restoration project meets with success

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on July 8, 2007 at 7:38 am

This, from the Los Angeles Times:

Healing ailing rivers is Mark Hill’s specialty. So when the tall and lean ecologist visits one of his works in progress, he’s prepared to paddle a long and sinuous route to assess the health of his watery patient. In this case, his charge is the Lower Owens River, a 62-mile-long stretch left essentially dry in 1913 after its flows of Sierra snowmelt were diverted into the Los Angeles Aqueduct. After decades of political bickering, water was directed back into the riverbed in December, launching the largest river restoration effort ever attempted in the West.

Ecologists knew the Lower Owens would come back to life. But how fast would it rebuild itself? Which wildlife would appear first? Which plants?

Scientists have been surprised by some of the early answers, and to flesh out the details Hill recently took his first survey by kayak of the river. Hill, the lead scientist in the Lower Owens River Project, stepped into a blue inflatable 16-foot kayak, said “Let’s go,” and was soon scooting through the channel that cuts across the Owens Valley.

This article talks about the return of the ecosystem now that water is flowing in the Lower Owens River again, and the there is even a video posted at the LA Times website. To read the full text of this article from the Los Angeles Times, click here.

Here’s a link to a website on the restoration project. Click on the “Recent Activity” page to find the links to overhead photos of the work as it progressed. There are some great detailed overhead pictures of the intakes and measuring stations and the river during construction.

Look for more on Owens Valley on Aquafornia in the coming weeks!

July 8, 2007 · Filed Under Owens Valley & Mono Lake

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