County's 'Gutsy' Move: Taking On Los Angeles Water
By Sara Jerome,
@sarmje
Los Angeles officials acquired water rights in the 1900s using questionable tactics, historians say. Now, the previous owners of the rights want their water back.
“Inyo County officials have launched eminent domain proceedings to reclaim the land of three landfill sites in the county owned by the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP),” LAist reported.
The landfills, operated by Inyo County, are situated on land owned by the LADWP. The eminent domain effort “is the latest in a series of legal actions the region has taken against Los Angeles since the city began buying up swaths of land in the Owens Valley for water rights in the early 1900s,” the report continued.
LADWP officials are worried about how the campaign could affect their water rights.
“This is brand new. It could be a slippery slope and where it would lead us I don’t know,” Marty Adams, chief operating officer at the agency said, The Los Angeles Times reported. “The county also wants the water rights on certain properties, which could have a cascading effect. We’re very concerned about that.”
Sierra Wave Media called the county’s effort “gutsy.” The parcels of land where Inyo County is claiming eminent domain make up nearly 270 acres owned by the LADWP.
The effort marks the first time Inyo County has gone after the Los Angeles water department using eminent domain rules, The Los Angeles Times reported.
“Unlike previous battles with the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) that focused on the environmental and economic damage caused by L.A.'s pumping of local water supplies, the county seeks to pay fair market value for property and water rights needed for landfills, parks, commerce and ranchlands along a 112-mile stretch of Highway 395 east of the Sierra Nevada,” the report said.
“Inyo County officials see their effort to take back DWP land as an important step in taking back local control,” the report said.