tronanews.com

LADWP loses federal case
This probably won't put an end to the legal maneuvers that LADWP will use to delay things. It would be nice if they'd just do the right thing, but for some reason bureaucracies prefer playing legal games over just doing the right thing. Tons of info provided with this article. Hopefully you can find the time to read it all!

As a result of the Air Board’s decision, the City was compelled to submit a preliminary plan for how it will address the on-going air pollution problem. It has proposed a plan that will control dust and reduce water use at Owens Lake by over 600 million gallons every year.

The dismissal of the federal lawsuit was the City’s third recent defeat in courts on this issue. Last year, the City was forced to dismiss two state court lawsuits against the District and the California Air Resources Board.

LINK: http://www.sierrawave.net/24550/loses-federal-case/

DWP archaeologists uncover grim chapter in Owens Valley history
In this news article an incident in which 35 Paiute Indians were killed is characterized as a massacre. It sounds more like an ongoing dispute to me and the Paiutes lost. It also sounds like some of the stories told by the descendents of the Paiutes were spun to make the incident sound even worse than it really was. In their version of the story the Paiutes claim that women and children were among those who lost their lives during this skirmish. Preliminary archeological work strongly suggests that there were no women or children involved in this incident and it appears that the Paiutes have decided that they don't want to have their version of the story discredited and so they are blocking further archeological work, claiming that they don't want the bodies of the deceased desecrated. It's unfortunate that there were disputes between the Paiutes and the settlers and it's unfortunate that some people on both sides of the dispute lost their lives. However, if it were the case that archeological work would prove the Paiute's version of the story then I'm sure they would insist that such work be done. In fact, they'd probably claim that such work wasn't being done fast enough and that funding was unfairly being withheld due to racism or some such bogus claim. Same old story, slightly different situation!

On March 19, 1863, 20 soldiers and 10 white settlers attacked Paiutes who were reportedly killing livestock in the area. The battle began in a nearby oak grove and the Paiutes ran into the lake, hoping to swim to safety.

LINK: http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-massacre-site-20130603,0,7719440.story

Air angst, archaeology and an appeal
I'd imagine that artifacts are scattered all around the Owens Valley. It's pretty much unavoidable considering that the Paiutes lived there for thousands of years. As for the massacre, I've got to agree 100% with Wildrose. It sounds more like a skirmish that the Paiutes lost than a massacre.

The Los Angeles Times recently revealed that an area designated for clean-up of dry lake dust held remains of Paiute Indians, reported historically to have been killed in the 1800s by white settlers.

LINK: http://www.sierrawave.net/25170/air-angst-archaeology/

Water wars: ‘The Untold Story’
The comments left in response to this article are much more interesting than the article itself. It sounds like the book was crafted to make the LADWP seem less like the bad guy, but I think this commenter saw through that little ploy:

So yeah .. DWP was not the only villains in this story, they had accomplices who lived here. Make no mistake though .. this whole article doesn’t change a thing about what happened, and how DWP did what it did … it only makes light of the fact that there were local accomplices.

LINK: http://www.sierrawave.net/25577/water-wars-the-untold-story/

Peeing Teen 'Ruins' 38m Gallons of Drinking Water
I'm sure people fed up with the abuses perpetrated by the LADWP have thought of this one. Who knows if they've actually resorted to such a tactic. Of course, the LADWP is more likely to keep it quiet since they wouldn't want to deal with the disruption. In which case the people of LA have probably received a little something extra with their water on many occasions, but that's no big deal considering the huge volume of water being drained away from Owens Valley. Besides they say that urine is unlikely to be a major health issue even if it is thoroughly disgusting!

Waterless World? Scarcity could bring Earth to breaking point
Disputes over water here in California may be contentious, but worldwide we're talking about possible wars.

Maybe they should just paint the lawn...

I seen that story on the mainstream TV News last night. What gets me is that I remember ther being a grass for cash program.
http://projects.scpr.org/static/maps/turf-removal-in-southern-california/

Glendora must have outlawed that too

Grass for cash. That doesn't sound legal.