Los Angeles and Owens Valley have finally made peace over years of legal dispute about a dry lakebed that produces massive amounts of dust.
After a long debate over who is responsible for the poor air quality around Owens Lake, the agreement with the Great Basin Unified Air Pollution Control District is expected to save the city around 3 billion gallons of water this year, the Associated Press reported.
New waterless methods will be used to reduce dust at the lakebed, which dried up after its waters were diverted south in 1913 to accommodate the expanding city. Officials plan to have native grasses planted and to use tractors to furrow lakebed clay and create large clods of dirt. First tested in the 1990s, the method aims to keep dust trapped in the clods.
L.A. has spent more than $1.3 billion since 1998 to control dust at Owens Lake, mostly by expending water to moisten the lakebed's 45 square miles. Around 25 billion gallons of water have been used each year for the biggest dust mitigation project in the country.
In about three years, the city expects that the new solutions will save around 10 billion gallons of water each year, which the Los Angeles Times says is enough to supply 150,000 residents annually.
"The first rule of ecology is that everything is connected to everything else," said Great Basin Board Chairman Ron Hames, as quoted by the AP. "We know Los Angeles relies on that water, but we also need clean air, and it is Los Angeles' responsibility to comply with the clean-air laws and protect public health. This agreement allows for both clean air for the families in the Owens Valley and clean water for Los Angeles."
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