A River Revived

(EF!N editor’s note: The diverting of the Owens river to Los Angeles sparked the “California Water Wars” marked by a wave of sabotage and dynamiting…)

Lower Owens revival is the largest river restoration project in the history of the American West

by Chuck Grahm / Earth Island Journal

I eased my standup paddleboard onto the placid, crystal clear waters, nary a drop out of place. From where I stood, the barren, sandy shoal was pock-marked with Tule elk spoor, but as soon as my paddle pierced through the royal blue water, the river came to life. A clutch of red-winged blackbirds clung to swaying cattails while a school of brown trout fanned out beneath me. Several western kingbirds fluttered above the shallow water, the river’s easy flow breathing life into a dry, dormant valley.

he revival of the 62-mile Lower Owens River in California is the largest river restoration project in the history of the American West. Residents of the Eastern Sierra have been waiting for nearly a century for its return, ever since the river was diverted to the Los Angeles Aqueduct in 1913, and subsequently vanished from the Owens Valley. Finally in December 2006 – under court order – snowmelt from the high Eastern Sierra was redirected into the Lower Owens River, reinvigorating a landscape that had been bone dry for nearly 100 years.

“It’s looking incredibly healthy,” said Mike Prather, outreach coordinator and former president of the Owens Valley Committee. “It looks like the river was shot in the arm with vitamins.”

The replenished river is already attracting wildlife. Bobcats, minks, coyotes and ospreys have been sighted, herds of Tule elk are in the vicinity, a great horned owl gazed back at me from its cottonwood perch and as I paddled the river’s easy flow, tree frogs croaked hidden in the thick stocks of reeds. Over 400 bird species have been documented in the Owens Valley since restoration began, and the rejuvenated Lower Owens will become a major stopover for a bevy of migrating bird species.

Despite the progress, river ecologist Mark Hill, lead scientist at the Ecosystem Sciences Foundation in Idaho, says it could be 15 to 20 years before the river is fully restored. As the restoration project progresses, Hill will gauge the river’s vitality, monitoring everything from its 3,500 acres of wetlands and improved river flows to water quality and increasing wildlife populations. If the early returns are any indication, the Lower Owens is on a slow but steady path to recovery.

Of all the wildlife, the fish have recovered the fastest. “The fishery is just about there already,” he said, as some large-mouth bass swam beneath our standup paddleboards. “We’re creating an ecosystem through trial and error using passive techniques.”

“This is a young river,” Hill added, as we paddled down from Independence to Lone Pine in the Eastern Sierra. “We had to start from scratch, but right now our biggest challenge is changing the river flows.”

As I paddled a 5-mile stretch of the Lower Owens River, which had been dry since 1913, I marveled at the snow-capped granite peaks of Mount Whitney, Mount Langley and Lone Pine Peak, the rest of the jagged Eastern Sierra towering to the west, while the desolate Inyo Mountains flanked the river and the Owens Valley to the east. This is no ordinary river, and as the ecosystem continues to recover, it holds great promise for outdoor enthusiasts and wildlife alike.

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