The City of Los Angeles built the first of two Los Angeles Aqueducts in 1913. A second aqueduct from the Haiwee Reservoirs was completed in 1970. LADWP began purchasing Owens River watershed lands in 1905. Today, 80% of the 314,000 acres owned by the LADWP in the Owens Valley is leased. The City’s long-standing land use policies ensure that a minimum of 75% of these leased lands remain open to the public for recreational use. This policy, along with federal management of public lands in the surrounding mountains, has preserved unmatched recreational opportunities in a beautiful, natural setting.

While the United States Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management own the majority of land in the Eastern Sierra, the Department is the largest private landowner in the Owens Valley watershed. Twentieth century land uses, including LADWP’s use of water resources in the Owens Valley, have also shaped this region. Historical impacts from some of these uses were not compatible with a healthy watershed and modern perspectives related to resource conservation. Much of this newsletter features LADWP’s work to restore creeks and rivers, our efforts in progress to restore hundreds of acres of abandoned agricultural land with native vegetation, and our many activities to improve water quality, water supply, the environment, and serve our neighbors in the great Owens Valley.

Ranching is still a viable way of life thanks to agricultural leases on the majority of the open space owned and managed by LADWP. The oldest trees on the planet — 4,000 year-old Bristlecone pines — are found east of Big Pine in the White Mountains. The Palisades Glacier, the southern-most active glacier in the U.S., is located between some of the Eastern Sierra’s highest peaks.

Tule Elk herds that graze on City of Los Angeles land are managed cooperatively by LADWP and the California Department of Fish and Game. Because so much of the Owens Valley has remained open and undeveloped, the land has remained in its natural state.

Tens of thousands of anglers are lured here every year to fish for bass and trout in Eastern Sierra reservoirs and in the rivers and creeks that shape the valley floor. Due to the wide variety of habitats in the Eastern Sierra, many wildlife species are found here that are rare elsewhere.